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Police: Suspect in poker heist released

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a daring $331,000 raid on a poker tournament, according to German media reports.
Image: A police car stand next to Grand Hyatt hotel in Berlin
A police car is parked next to Grand Hyatt hotel after a group of armed men stormed the hotel during a poker tournament in Berlin. Several participants at the European Poker tournament were slightly injured, police said. Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters file
/ Source: msnbc.com

Berlin police said Saturday they had released a man previously suspected of taking part in the storming last weekend of a poker tournament in which armed robbers made off with €240,000 ($328,000) in jackpot money.

A spokeswoman for Berlin police — who did not give her name in keeping with department policy — said the suspect had been set free due to a lack of evidence. The suspect, who was detained late Friday, denied throughout several hours in questioning having taken part in the heist at the Grand Hyatt hotel in the capital.

Police declined to identify the man or give any further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

German authorities have been hunting for four suspects who, armed with machetes and handguns, stormed the poker tournament in broad daylight last Saturday in downtown Berlin, stunning the participants and the audience.

Images of the masked men were captured on surveillance cameras.

According to the European Poker tour, the jackpot for the tournament stood at €1 million ($1.36 million).