Paris casino security and the Las Vegas Metro Police Department were involved in the detainment and arrest of a guest-room burglar who may have been largely responsible for a recent surge in room break-ins at the property over the last two months. Casino security detained 44-year-old Robert Black in the early-morning hours of Friday, June 2, after he entered a "bait room" prepared by security.
The scheme involved making the room look occupied, including leaving a wallet containing hundreds of dollars, along with other valuables, in plain sight. Black entered the room at about 4:40 am, while several security officers waited in a nearby room snd monitored a hidden camera.
The security team burst in after Black entered the room snd detained him after a brief scuffle. Black at first refused to speak, but did identity himself after LVMPD officers arrived. When Black was captured, he had $5,365 in US currency and another $990 Canadian in his possession. Black was also carrying a flathead screwdriver and a Paris hotel room key, which had been registered to another person. The Paris, along with its connected neighbor casino, the Horseshoe, is currently playing host to the 2023 World Series of Poker.
WSOP visitors may have been among victims
It turned out that the "bait room" Black attempted to rob was at least the seventh Paris suite that he entered between 3:00 am and 4:40 on June 2. Reports drifted in from hotel guests later that morning as they discovered they had been robbed from rooms on at least four different floors.
Black, according to reports, allegedly stole cash from five of the six rooms he entered before being captured in the bait room. In one of the other rooms, where a couple slept, the room invader retreated after being verbally challenged. Black allegedly stole money from the other five rooms, in every case while the victims lied in bed, asleep. Each of the rooms' door peepholes had also been damaged and dislodged and displayed marks consisten with the flathead screwdriver found in Black's possession.
The occupants of the other five rooms were two more couples and three single-occupant men. The two couples reported cash thefts of $550 and $925, respectively. One of the three male victims who was staying alone reported the loss of $2,400 in a money clip, additionally valued at $80. A second solo male victim reported the theft of about $1,100 US and $800 Canadian, while the third solo male reported a $244 loss. No identifying information about the victims have been released, but the huge numbers of players staying at Paris or Horseshoe increase the probability that one or more WSOP attendees were among the victims.
Security had identified burglar's MO
Paris security's task in trapping the burglar using a baited room was made easier by security officials' ability to identify a method of operation the burglar used in earlier room invasions. In these earlier instances, the burglar entered rooms on multiple floors, but the rooms were always near the elevator and to the right as one would step from the elevator into the hallway. The pattern allowed casino security to create the bait room in a likely spot where the burglar would strike while also being able to stay in a nearby room unlikely to be similarly targeted.
Black faces 19 counts related to the June 2 break-ins, including five counts of residential burglary and one count of attempted residential burglary. He posted bond and faces an initial hearing on October 23. After his identify was verified via fingerprints, LVMPD investigators also determined that he had two felony convictions in 2017 for conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted burglary.
