Armed robbery at a just re-opened Las Vegas casino
The re-opening of Vegas casinos couldn’t come soon enough for one man, William R Clark allegedly carrying out an armed robbery at the New York-New York Casino early last Thursday morning…
A man who Las Vegas police say stole thousands in cash from the New York-New York casino cage Thursday is a habitual criminal with a rap sheet dating back two decades, according to court records https://t.co/9oN2tbyAqj
— Las Vegas Review-Journal (@reviewjournal) June 15, 2020
41-year old Clark is believed to be the suspect who robbed the MGM Resorts-owned casino’s main cashier’s cage at just after 2 am, making off with an undisclosed sum of cash.
Police responded to the armed robbery, in which no-one was harmed, the incident coming less than a week after the New York-New York Casino re-opened.
According to LVMPD public information officer Larry Hadfield: “Officers responded to the area, got with some of the local security, and when they were ATL (attempting to locate), they found that individual across the street at another hotel.”
The man arrested at 3.45 am at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, William R Clark, was charged with ‘robbery executed with a deadly weapon’ and ‘burglary while possessing a deadly weapon’.
He was detained in the Clark County Detention Center and court records show he is ‘a habitual criminal with a rap sheet dating back two decades’, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
New York-New York Casino not the only target of armed thieves
Last year a robbery at the Bellagio saw an armed robber shot dead by police in the casino parking lot. 49-year old Michael Charles Cohen was caught on camera exiting the Bellagio with stolen cash and attempting to hijack cars being valeted.
Four LVMPD officers were just meters away when the call came through, Cohen shooting one officer twice as he tried to escape. The officer survived thanks to a bullet-proof vest, but Cohen was shot dead in the exchange of gunfire.
Police are almost certain that Cohen was behind an almost identical 2017 robbery at the Bellagio, Doyle Brunson tweeting on that occasion…
The guy that robbed the cashier cage at the Bellagio should have walked south 10 yards and took our money in Bobby's Room. He got 35k and we had about 200k in cash waiting to put it on deposit. Waitress said she could have hit the guy as he slowly left.
— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly) November 29, 2017
Sometimes it’s poker players themselves who are targeted at casinos. Joey Salvaggio had his Main Event buy-in robbed in the Rio parking lot last year by an armed assailant.
Just got robbed at gunpoint at @wsop Pavilion parking lot of the Rio.Guy jumped out of car in camouflage, shoved a gun in my face and demanded my backpack with thousands in it and the keys to my car. scariest moment of my life #wsop2019 #wsop @CaesarsEnt retweet for awareness.
— JoeySal (@JoeSalOG) July 1, 2019
For Tom 3BetPanda Steinbach a similar incident almost cost him his life at the Texas Card House in Austin. The young pro and Instagrammer was shot in the back after an attempted robbery went wrong.
Poker commentator Jesse Abramowitz had to apologize last year after joking about following a player home and robbing him, and Daniel Jungleman Cates was the victim of a street robbery last year as well.
Thankfully such incidents are still relatively rare. However, players – and casinos/cardrooms – need to be aware of the dangers and take sensible precautions whenever possible.
Feel free to check our poker news for further updates and the latest news in the world of poker.
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