A silent alarm turned a robbery into a police pursuit
Five men entered the Fēnikss gaming hall on the morning of 25 January 2011. They wounded an employee and took more than 104,000 Latvian lats. Staff activated a silent alarm, allowing local officers to respond while the group fled in a Chrysler Voyager.
The attackers entered a dead-end road during the escape. Police blocked the route, and the confrontation escalated into gunfire.
Captain Andris Znotiņš was killed
Senior inspector Captain Andris Znotiņš was killed in the shootout. Two other responding officers and three of the five assailants were wounded. Police recovered the stolen money and arrested the group.
Four assailants had police backgrounds
The defendants connected to the core robbery were Arvo Žagars, Leonīds Koņuhovs, brothers Deniss and Pāvels Hristoforidi, and Staņislavs Babelis. Žagars and Koņuhovs served in the Alfa tactical unit; the Hristoforidi brothers were former Tukums police officers. Babelis was a civilian.
The discovery intensified scrutiny of police corruption and supervision. Those institutional questions provide context, but this file assigns criminal responsibility only according to the judgments against named defendants.
The joint case included earlier robberies
Latvian prosecutors tried the Jēkabpils defendants together with counts arising from earlier crimes in Tukums and Jūrmala. In December 2012, the Zemgale Regional Court sentenced Žagars to life imprisonment. Deniss and Pāvels Hristoforidi initially received 20 and 18 years; other defendants received long fixed terms.
Žagars admitted the robbery and escape but contested intentional homicide. The court nevertheless convicted and sentenced him. This distinction is important: a defendant's position is recorded as a position, while the conviction is recorded as the court's finding.
Appeals changed several terms but not the life sentence
On 5 September 2016, the appellate court left Žagars's life sentence unchanged and reduced several fixed terms. Deniss Hristoforidi received 18 years and nine months, Pāvels Hristoforidi 16 years, Leonīds Koņuhovs 12 years and six months, Edgars Paruškins 10 years, and Staņislavs Babelis 11 years and six months. Staņislavs Berkuls, charged only in a Jūrmala theft episode, received a suspended six-month term.
Supreme Court review left the core convictions in force while one Jūrmala abduction-and-robbery episode returned for further consideration. In May 2018, the Supreme Court refused a further cassation challenge, bringing the remaining episode to finality. The Jēkabpils robbery and Znotiņš's murder are therefore classified as solved and adjudicated.
Timeline
- 25 January 2011 — Five men rob the Fēnikss gaming hall; Captain Andris Znotiņš is killed in the escape shootout.
- 20 December 2012 — The first-instance court imposes a life sentence and multiple long prison terms.
- 5 September 2016 — The appellate court keeps Žagars's life sentence and reduces several fixed terms.
- 18 August 2017 — Supreme Court review leaves most of the appellate judgment in force and remands one separate Jūrmala episode.
- 10 May 2018 — The remaining judgment enters into force after the Supreme Court refuses further review.
- 14 April 2025 — A court rejects Deniss Hristoforidi's request for conditional early release.
Frequently asked questions
What happened on 25 January 2011?
Five men robbed the Fēnikss gaming hall and fled. Police trapped their vehicle on a dead-end road, where a shootout killed officer Andris Znotiņš.
Were police officers involved?
Yes. Four of the five core assailants were serving or former police officers.
Who received life imprisonment?
Arvo Žagars. The appellate court kept that sentence unchanged.
When did the case become final?
The core convictions survived Supreme Court review; the final remanded episode was resolved in 2018.
Why is this one archive file?
The robbery, escape and fatal shootout form one connected event. Related counts in the joint trial are context, not separate pages created to increase the case count.