Imagine the excitement of attending the first week of the World Series of Poker. Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas are buzzing as people’s quests for a bracelet – including yours! – begin. Now imagine being asleep in your hotel room in the wee hours of the morning, perhaps with your significant other, and waking up to a stranger standing by your bed. Nightmare fuel, yes, but that is exactly what happened on the morning of June 2 at Paris Las Vegas, as a man broke into half a dozen hotel rooms before finally being caught by police.
Robert Black allegedly entered six rooms at Paris in the span of less than two hours. Every room was occupied at the time. In a couple of instances, the occupant(s) woke up, but Black still absconded with money from one of them. In the other, the person who woke up actually got up and asked, “Who is it,” which caused Black to flee empty handed.
Had he stopped after six rooms, Black might have gotten away with it. But trying to solve a rash of burglaries in recent months, Las Vegas police setup a “bait room” at Paris, containing security cameras, a wallet with $600 in it, suitcases, and other “items of value.” That was the seventh room Robert Black hit on June 2.
When Black grabbed the wallet, security officers, who were watching the feed from a neighboring room, burst in and apprehended him. They found US$5,365 and CAD$990 on him, plus a screwdriver and somebody else’s room key. It appears that he used the screwdriver to open the deadbolts of the rooms – one victim found scratches on the lock/deadbolt area, likely from the screwdriver.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the burglaries. Police did not report any weapons (unless you count the screwdriver) on Black when he was taken into custody, so he probably had no intention of causing harm. He just wanted to grab cash and get out. Thus, while it is certainly not fun to be robbed, it could have been a lot worse if the suspect was someone else.
This should also be a cautionary tale to people staying in hotels, especially hotels and casinos. Use the room safe if you have a bunch of cash on you. There’s no reason to leave hundreds or thousands of dollars just sitting out in the open. Hell, at least hide it to make it more difficult if you are safe-averse.
Also, it sounds like the door locks at Paris Las Vegas are way too easy to pick. Guy was able to simply use a flathead screwdriver and do it quietly enough so as not to be detected in several cases? Come on, man.
