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Two Gay Bars in Phoenix Robbed on Same Night 

Two Gay Bars in Phoenix Robbed on Same Night 

phoenix gay bars

Armed robbers targeted two gay bars in the Melrose neighborhood of Phoenix. 

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Two armed men robbed two gay bars in Phoenix Tuesday night.

No one was hurt, but two people in the parking lot of Pat O's Bunkhouse were robbed at gunpoint around 9 p.m. The other robbery occured at Los Diablos, a gay club located only two miles from Pat O's Bunkhouse. Both clubs are in the Melrose district of Phoenix.The two armed suspects entered El Diablo through an open gate on the outside patio, where they robbed at least five people who were sitting on the patio, at gunpoint. The suspects remain at large.

The owner of Los Diablos, Matthew Harty, told Phoenix TV station KTVK that he was inside the bar when the robbery happened. The two robberies were very similar, but police told the TV station that they aren't sure whether the bars were targeted. Harty believes they were.

"I actually think there is some connection with it," Harty told KTVK. "I don't know if they thought the opportunity was there at this time of the evening or if it was planned out."

The two armed men stole the wallets and cell phones of patrons at both bars, but some of those have been recovered since. Police are reviewing surveillance video from both robberies, but service at both bars will continue during the investigation.

"Safety [of patrons] is of the utmost importance to us at Diablos and also I think the LGB community," Harty told KTVK.

Police said the two suspects were either Latino or Native American and around 16 to 25 years old.

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Yezmin Villarreal

Yezmin Villarreal is the former news editor for The Advocate. Her work has also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Mic, LA Weekly, Out Magazine and The Fader.
Yezmin Villarreal is the former news editor for The Advocate. Her work has also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Mic, LA Weekly, Out Magazine and The Fader.