In the wee hours of March 12, the Monarch Casino in the storied mining town of Black Hawk was the scene of the biggest casino theft in Colorado history. $500.000 in cash was purportedly taken by the thief.
A well-thought-out heist:
Investigators claim that a teller departed the Monarch Casino's property with $500,000 in cash during the early morning hours of the commencement of Daylight Saving Time.
The same teller, identified as Sabrina Eddy, 44, was then spotted on camera removing "bricks" worth $50,000 each from the casino cage's vault around 12:45 AM, according to an affidavit from a Division of Gaming investigator.
In this regard, the statement said, "Eddy repeatedly picked up the stacks and put them into the same box. Approximately 12:55 in the morning, she taped the box shut after placing what seemed to be cleaning rags inside.
She then exited the casino cage and proceeded to the parking garage where she got into a gold minivan and left.
Investigators said, "She returned an hour later and grabbed four more bricks of bills, totaling a half million dollars, before driving off again."
The former head of the Colorado Division of gambling and current regulatory consultant to the gambling industry, Ron Kammerzell, commented on the robbery and stated: "For something like that to happen, it would've had to defeat a number of different levels of casino controls within the property."
Since gambling became allowed in the state in 1991, I have never heard of a casino heist of this size.
"The Division of Gaming would look into the heist and the Monarch rules and practises that made it possible. Finding out what went wrong and how to avoid it from happening again is one of the major tasks.
Suzi Karrer, a spokesperson for the Division of Gaming, declined to comment and refused to respond to any inquiries.
Confirmation is obtained from the robbery scene:
Although they confirmed that the heist had in fact occurred, Monarch Casino representatives refrained from going into greater detail, citing the ongoing investigation.
In this regard, a representative named Erica Ferris said: "Unfortunate things do occur in business occasionally. We've had good luck in the past.
The accused entered a not-guilty plea:
Eddy "insisted she did nothing wrong and said she thought casino bosses told her to take out the cash," according to the affidavit.
"She informed detectives that she had gotten a call on the casino's phone from a man claiming to be the chief of operations for Monarch. He informed her that the casino was experiencing a difficulty with a UPS order and need the money to avoid being in violation of contract. He and another man, whom she mistakenly believed to be a cage manager while exchanging messages with him, made this claim.
She claimed that the two guys informed her that the money would be sent to a lawyer. At at 4:36 in the morning, a guy knocked on her home and removed the box that she had taken to St. Anthony's Hospital.
"She informed detectives there was no answer when she tried to phone back the persons who gave her the order to withdraw the money. She then made a call to the casino to let them know she was coming back.
Additionally, it was emphasised in the affidavit that "Eddy alerted the casino that she had stolen money from the premises and believed she may be detained.
Eddy admitted to knowing about casino policies, but said she disregarded them after receiving orders from a "Casino Member" to do differently.
The affidavit stated, "Eddy continued to state she did nothing wrong, but she was just following orders she believed had [been] put out by the casino."
Later that day, Eddy was arrested in Gilpin County on charges of stealing after failing to make bail.
