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Laundromat Robbery Suspect Hospitalized After Officer Shoots Him With Taser: Hallandale Beach Police

A man who tried to rob a Hallandale Beach laundromat was hospitalized and on a ventilator after he was shot with a Taser by police.

The incident happened Friday morning at the Atlantic Shores coin laundry at 722 Atlantic Shores Boulevard.

"I'm so scared, I'm so sick," worker Lucia Blando said.

Blando said a man who had never been in the coin laundry before ended up in her office. Police said the man took about $75 and we he came rushing out, Blando was there.

"Yeah, he pushed me because I went to grab him to stop him, you know, and he run outside and one guy go after him," Blando said.

Investigators searched the area where witnesses said the man went running, dropping his wallet along the way. A good Samaritan flagged down a nearby officer who quickly got help from other units.

Witnesses said the alleged robber wasn't cooperative.

"And then the police got here and they were struggling with him, saying to him 'put your hands behind your back, put your hands behind your back,'" witness Mary Piccuillo said. "He kept yelling to him and he kept struggling like crazy."

"There was a violent struggle that took place along with back up officers," Hallandale Beach Police Capt. Sonia Quinones said. "One of our officers was forced to deploy his Taser. The suspect was Tased, transported to Memorial Hospital."

A source said the man almost died at the hospital but was saved and was breathing with the aid of a ventilator. Police haven't released his name.

Back at the coin laundry, the woman he allegedly startled was having a difficult time.

"I was in shock, I didn't know what to do," Blando said.

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