A Las Vegas police officer has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for stealing nearly $165,000 in three casino heists, CNN reported. According to court documents, Officer Caleb Rogers also brandished his service firearm in one of the heists.
The 35-year-old man was with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department when he robbed the Red Rock Aliante and Rio casinos between November 2021 and February 2022, the New York Times reported. The prosecutors said that during the heist, the accused was seen wearing black latex gloves, dark clothing and a mask.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced after being found guilty of three counts of robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm. According to the documents filed in the US District Court for the District of Nevada, he was ordered to pay more than $85,000 in restitution.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, his defence attorney, Richard Pocker, said he plans to appeal the conviction.
The prosecutors said that the first robbery took place on November 12, 2021. Mr Rogers was seen driving a pickup truck that had been "covered with what appeared to be trash bags. The truck was outside the Red Rock Casino Resort in Western Las Vegas.
Mr Rogers walked directly to the casino's cashier cage. He then demanded money, all while keeping his hand in his pocket, prosecutors said, to make the cashier believe that he was concealing a weapon. She handed over around $73,810, most of it bundled in $20 and $100 bills. The camera captured his unusual walk.
On January 6, 2022, he arrived at the Aliante Casino & Hotels in North Las Vegas. He was spotted driving a white Volkswagen hatchback. He was seen walking to the cashier with his hand in his pocket. The cashier handed over about $11,500.
In his third heist, Mr Rogers tried to rob the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino near the Las Vegas Strip. He entered the casino in the early hours of February 27, 2022, demanding that two employees hand over the money they were loading into drawers in a sports book area, and then "climbed over the counter, grabbed one of the women by her shoulders with both hands and shoved her to the floor."
The men set off an alarm and Mr Rogers was tackled by security personnel. He brandished a silver firearm and threatened to fire it.
Security officers could disarm Rogers and restrain him until LVMPD officers arrived. The officers arrested Rogers and seized his firearm. The revolver's serial number was checked, and officers learned it belonged to the LVMPD, according to the press release.
