A man dressed as a security guard walked away from a Detroit casino with over $500,000 in cash on Tuesday, November 27 morning at around 8:00 Detroit time. The incident happened outside the Greektown Casino, though the company robbed was Loomis. Nearly ten days after the original incident, authorities still have made no arrests in the case.
Officer Jennifer Moreno, who investigated the crime, told The Detroit News, "The suspect approached the back of the vehicle, took bags of money and fled. There were no injuries, and the incident is under investigation."
Man Confronted Loomis Driver
As a Loomis van was parked near the Greektown Casino on the corner of Monroe Avenue and Beaubien Street, a man confronted its driver and stole the money. Detroit police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are still investigating the crime.
The Loomis van was impounded so law enforcement can collect evidence. The driver of the Loomis van, in the hours after the robbery, was taken into custody by the police and interrogated. Boxes of cash which were left behind were loaded up by police and taken away for investigation.
Not Involved with Casino
Officials at the Greektown Casino say the driver and crew of the van did not have business at the casino, which makes their stop suspicious to authorities. Even odder, the robber was dressed as a Greektown Casino security guard, so he seemed to anticipate there would be an opportunity to grab cash (or he was planning something else).
Considered Larceny
Sgt. Cassandra Lewis of the Detroit Police Department said, "The good thing is that no one was hurt. That's the most important thing, but we will continue with our investigation to ascertain who is responsible and what happened."
Lewis said the police have categorized the crime differently than the local media has. She said, "It was a larceny as opposed to a robbery. No weapon was used, no threats, no force, and no injuries."
Told Driver to "Open Up"
Police say the van was parked on Monroe Ave. near the casino. A man walked up to the van while wearing a security guard outfit and asked the van driver to "open up". Loomis policy states that drivers are not supposed to leave a van under any circumstances, but police say the driver did open the van. When the van was opened, the robber simply grabbed a few bags of money and walked away with more than $500K.
Shawn Ley of WDIV News said that the van was parked at the corner of Beaubien and Monroe, so several security cameras caught the incident on tape. Police have collected those recordings and are studying them to collect evidence in the case. Though police are reviewing the footage, they have not released what they have learned.
No Breaks in the Case
A week after the crime was committeed, police did not have a solid description of the criminal. They tried to get a description from video surveillance, but nothing was certain. Worse, they seemed unable to get a description of the criminal from the Loomis driver.
On Wednesday a day-and-a-half after the crime took place, the FBI made an arrest outside Greektown Casino. Early reports suggested the arrest had to do with the robbery, but the FBI has stated since then that the arrest had nothing to do with the robbery at all.
FBI Asks for Tips
The FBI has taken the lead in the investigation and have asked people to come forward with information, if they believe they have evidence which could help their probe. The phone number for the Detroit FBI Office is 313-965-2323. The number for Crime Stoppers is 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
The police said they investigated to see whether he the man had a getaway car, but he did not. Assistant Police Chief Steve Dolunt told The Detroit News, "At this time, it looks like the suspect just walked away. He didn't have a getaway vehicle."
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