Brash Gambler Who Won $53K Gets Robbed Shortly After
An unidentified man who took his winnings in cash was followed to his hotel in the early hours of June 14 and robbed. Now Tampa police have two suspects they are questioning. A third remains at large. None of the suspects names have been released and no arrests made.
The man won $53,000 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and flaunted his cash prize. The robbers got $10,000 from him.
From the Tampa Bay Times:
Before the robbery, the man “was taking pictures with his recently won cash,” according to a search warrant for one of the suspect’s cellular phone data filed by Tampa police. Surveillance footage from June 14, the night of the incident, shows three suspects arriving at the casino about 12:40 a.m. in a red Alfa Romeo, which is an Italian luxury car.
The gambler openly flaunted his winnings in front of the three men.
The gambler left the casino in a black taxi, which was followed by the red Alfa Romeo for about 20 minutes until reaching the Barrymore Hotel Tampa Riverwalk, 111 W Fortune St. The taxi arrived at the hotel about 1:15 a.m., and surveillance footage shows the gambler exit the car with a paper bag containing the cash winnings.
Hotel cameras captured one of the suspects following the gambler into the hotel and grabbing the man’s Hard Rock Casino paper bag. He then ran out of the lobby. The gambler chased the suspect and tackled him outside the front doors of the hotel.
As the two men wrestled on the ground, footage shows the Alfa Romeo pull up and one man exit from the rear passenger’s side door. The man pushed the gambler off the suspect and ran back to the car, the warrant said. The man who grabbed the paper bag of cash also fled down the sidewalk, leaving the view of the camera.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
