HIALEAH, Fla. — A Hialeah man is facing several felony charges after police said he committed a terrifying armed robbery at a food store in an apparent rage over having lost money at its gambling machines.

Police said Suniel Arzola, 46, then tried to escape from custody early Friday morning while at the hospital following his arrest.

According to the Hialeah Police Department, the robbery happened on Nov. 30 at the RC La Atenas Market & Smoke Shop, located in a warehouse area at the corner of East 10th Avenue and 32nd Street.

Arzola, masked and “armed with a sledgehammer,” entered the store just after 11:45 p.m., “jumped over the counter” and snatched the clerk’s cellphone, demanding she go into the bathroom, an HPD report states.

Police said the victim, in fear, began screaming, at which point Arzola grabbed her by the arm, “pushed her all the way to the rear of the store and threw her into the bathroom,” where she remained in terror.

According to the report, Arzola then smashed four gambling machines, taking the money inside, stuffing the cash into his pockets and boots, then “ransacked the counter and register area,” stealing cash and the clerk’s purse before fleeing.

Police said the clerk told investigators that Arzola had been in the store earlier and “was upset because he lost money” playing the gambling machines.

According to the report, surveillance video helped detectives identify Arzola: It showed a “birthmark or burn mark” on his right hand seen during his gambling, the robbery and by officers during his arrest.

Police said footage also showed Arzola leaving on a bicycle and dropping something in the parking lot. The report states that a few minutes later, video showed that a woman, later identified as Arzola’s girlfriend, arrived in a Dodge Ram pickup to retrieve the item.

Authorities said on Dec. 2, they saw the truck, registered to Arzola, parked at a warehouse at 4813 E. 10th Court. Police said they later determined that Arzola owned the warehouse, which is less than a mile away from the store.

Police said they found Arzola and his girlfriend at his warehouse on Thursday and took them both in for questioning.

The report states that Arzola’s girlfriend told investigators that he had “left the warehouse for a few hours on the night of the robbery and returned just before midnight” and claimed that she drove to the store to play the gambling machines just before midnight when she “noticed a hammer on the ground and picked it up.”

According to the report, she then claimed she got back into the truck and eventually threw out the hammer, “according to her, for no apparent reason.”

Arzola, police said, denied involvement in the robbery, but did admit to losing $3,800 on the gambling machines earlier that day.

He was taken into custody on charges of armed robbery, false imprisonment with a deadly weapon and armed criminal mischief. But it turned out that those would not be the only charges he’d accrue before heading to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

According to a separate arrest report, Arzola was taken to Hialeah Hospital for medical clearance and was handcuffed to a hospital bed. After being discharged just after 1:15 a.m. Friday, police said an officer removed the handcuffs and Arzola suddenly leaped from the bed and ran towards the lobby exit.

Police said he ignored commands to stop and an officer shocked him with a Taser. He then had to be resecured and medically cleared again before eventually being taken to TGK ― with added escape and resisting arrest charges ― where his bond was listed as “to be set” as of early Friday afternoon.

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