Amarillo Slim Robbed at Gun Point

According to Amarillo.com the Texas News Site,
Thomas Austin “Amarillo Slim” Preston Jr.
was robbed on Sunday night. He returned
home after a night out to find two men, armed
with Slim’s own shotgun, waiting to rob him.

This all comes 4 months after a robber shot
at his pickup truck striking it with 2 bullets.
“I told him, I said now ‘Pull the trigger on
that damn thing or put it down,’” Preston said,
recalling the robbery at his home Sunday night.
“I said ‘I don’t feel real comfortable with that
shotgun pointed at me.’”

But it isn’t the trauma of the robbery that has Preston, a famous poker player and gambler, worried, he said. It is a prized belt buckle he had made in Seattle more than 40 years ago.

The belt buckle has “Amarillo Slim”
emblazoned on it in platinum along
with jade. Slim is willing to pay big money
to get this belt buckle back. Fortunately,
Preston was not hurt during the robbery.
“Nobody in the world is going to wear it,”
he said. “They are going to either melt it
or throw it away. Just tell me where it is
and I’ll go get it.” The robbers also made
off with two shotguns and a large amount
of cash he had on him, Preston said.
He would not say exactly how much.

This is the 2nd incident Slim has had
with robbers in the past 4 months.
On October 4th, he was cut off by robbers
who demanded cash from him at gun point.
Slim declined, slamming his car into
reverse, which led to the robbers firing
3 rounds at his car.

Preston said he had been watching
a Los Angeles Lakers-San Antonio Spurs
game Sunday afternoon at a friend’s home.
But when he walked into his home about
6 p.m., he saw two men, one masked
and the other unmasked, in his apartment
with his shotguns in their hands.
“They were just waiting for me to
come in,” Preston said.

The masked robber then told Preston
he was going to kill him, Preston said,
which spurred a profanity-laced retort
from Preston. The masked man then
took one of Preston’s shotguns and
shoved it into his belly, Preston said.

“The man without the mask didn’t
abuse me at all,” he said. “He was
damn near cordial.” The two men then
stripped Preston and tied his hands
and feet with three bolo ties they found
in his apartment, and told him to lay down
on the floor, a request Preston did not
want to comply with.

Preston, who has a pacemaker, said he
didn’t want to be placed on the cold floor,
and face the risk of no one coming by to
check on him. So the robbers decided to
put him on the couch, Preston said,
with the masked robber saying he was
going to get a pillow. “I thought that
was the end,” Preston said.

“There is just one reason to go get a pillow.
A shotgun makes some noise. You put that
pillow over (that weapon) and pull the trigger,
you are going to hear nothing. It’s not
a good feeling.” Preston said while the
robbers took a large amount of money
off him, he was just worried about surviving.
“Money is just how you keep score,” he said.
“It was of secondary importance.”

Preston said he was able to loosen the ties
around his hands and feet and went to his
apartment complex’s office, where
a woman there called police, he said.
“I probably would have never called
(the police),” he said.

Despite this traumatic incident, Preston
said he has no plans to move from Amarillo.
“I am too old to let some pimp, drug dealer,
dopehead make me do that,” Preston said.
“I have been advised to, but I am going
to stay right where I am, and I want
everyone to know it.”

Amarillo Slim said anyone who has information
about the robbery or the buckle should call
Amarillo Crime Stoppers at (806) 374-4400
or the APD Detective Division at (806) 378-4251.