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Hat Trick! Las Vegas Police Nab Alleged Casino Robber From DNA

Author Shawn Tempesta
Black hat with visor on a white table

One alleged robber was using his head, and it cost him. Las Vegas Metro arrested D’Shante Styles for a spree of casino robberies and the thing police said linked him to the crimes was his cap.

You may remember the string of casino cage robberies that took place as early as last November. From Gold Coast to Palace Station, M Resort to Green Valley Ranch, Silverton Casino to Rampart, the robberies were happening one after the other. The savvy suspect likely scoped out the scene and found a way to run to areas outside of video surveillance to make his escape each time.

In two of the incidents, police allege Styles carjacked victims. In one of the incidents, Styles was spotted at M Resort with the stolen car. When police tried to apprehend him, he ran off and got away… but not without leaving something very important behind.

How a baseball hat helped Las Vegas police catch their casino robber

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department found a hat at the apartment complex he stole the car from. That hat was the same hat worn by the robber at M Resort earlier in the day. That hat was swabbed, tested, and there was a DNA match… they found D’Shante Styles in their database and took him into custody this week.

Styles is looking at some major counts – 15 in total – with a half a million dollars bail.

If you learn anything living in Vegas long enough, you know you shouldn’t “let it ride” too much. You can only “hit” so many times before you “bust”. Now D’Shante is busted and will have his day in court on May 9th.

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Shawn Tempesta is the co-host of Aimee+Shawn on 102.7 VGS in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is also an Emmy award nominated television host. As a content creator for 102.7 VGS, Shawn writes about current events, education, funny and trending stories.

The Most Brazen Casino Robberies In Las Vegas History

It’s been a busy month when it comes to casino cage robberies in Las Vegas.

In the early morning hours on Wednesday, November 9th, a man walked up to the cage at Resorts World. He showed the cashier a note demanding money, and that’s exactly what he got. The cashier put an undisclosed amount of cash into a bag, he headed outside, hopped into a taxi and left. The taxi driver was later found but it was determined he didn’t know anything about the robbery.

Then just yesterday, Wednesday, November 16th, a man walked into Gold Coast and robbed the cage. No word on how much he stole, but Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told 8 News Now the suspect in that case is “a black male adult wearing a white mask in black clothing.”

The allure of staging a heist at a casino is too much for some to stand. Movies like Oceans Eleven romanticize the premise of pilfering millions from Las Vegas’ richest businesses.

But in reality, it’s among the craziest things someone could do. CityCenter (where Aria, Vdara and other properties are) alone has nearly 3,000 cameras. There isn’t a corner of that property you could go undetected, and they aren’t alone. Las Vegas is one of the most surveilled cities in the world!

Not all “heists” are illegal. The MIT Blackjack Team, who mastered the art of card counting, walked away with millions before the casinos realized what was going on. At the end of the day card counting isn’t illegal, but casinos are well within their right to tell you your business is no longer welcome (and they did). Heck, even UFC President Dana White has been shown the door at several casinos for winning just a little bit too much.

But this isn’t about the smart players. This is about the dumb criminals that got away with stupid money… but in nearly most cases, they didn’t get away for long.

  • Circus Circus Armored Truck Heist - $3,000,000

    Not all heists happen at the cage. A convicted-but-freed murdered named Roberto Solis was, astoundingly, able to get a job working for the armored vehicle company Loomis. He’d drive around with untold fortunes in the back, refilling casino ATMs. Enter Roberto’s boyfriend Heather Tallchief. She got in the truck and stole it from the Circus Circus lot in 1993, getting away with three million dollars. They left the country never to be seen again. At least Roberto did. Heather returned in 2005, turned herself in to authorities and supposedly only saw a sliver of the fortune. Roberto on the other hand has yet to be found.

  • Bellagio "Biker Bandit" - $1,500,000

    This robbery had all the crazy twists and turns of a Hollywood movie. Back in 2010, a man parked his motorcycle at an entrance of the Bellagio. He walked in wearing his helmet, showed off his gun, and ran off with $1,500,000 worth of chips he swiped from a craps table. He got away on his bike. The guy was Anthony Michael Carleo, the son of a local judge! He’d stolen chips from the Suncoast just before that for $20,000. His lips got a little too loose and he was busted.

  • Stardust Sportsbook Heist - $500,000

    Another one of the rare “and he got away with it” stories. Back in 1992, a guy named Bill Brennan was in a trusted position at the now flattened Stardust. He was in charge of counting the money coming in at the sportsbook. He was looking at a cool half a million bucks. So what’d Bill do? He took those bills and just walked out. Poof. Vanished. He was on the FBI Most Wanted list for a while, but he never turned up, and when the Stardust vanished, so did his case.

  • Stardust Smoke Bomb Heist - $1,250,000

    It was an inside job. Back in 1992 (what was it with Stardust in 1992) a security guard tapped his kids to pretend to rob the place. They walked away with $150,000. Half a year later they were back at it, this time ransacking a security guard and walking away with a much larger purse: $1,100,000. They even used smoke bombs to disorient people and make their getaway. It was all fun and games until they were caught.

  • Bellagio Commando - $160,000

    A former commando in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, Jose Vigoa walked into the Bellagio in 2000 on a string of crimes. He walked in wearing bulletproof gear, got a bag and stuffed it with casino chips totaling $160,000. He was captured shortly after the theft.

  • The Bad Cop At The Rio... And Red Rock... And Aliante - $90,000+

    There are many people you’d suspect for a casino robbery. A Las Vegas Metro officer is not one of them. But that’s exactly what happened about a year ago. Officer Caleb Rogers stole over $70,000 from the Red Rock in November 2021 brandishing his department-issued gun. A couple months later he hit the Aliante, stealing $11,500. Then a month after that, a robbery at the sportsbook at Rio. That was one stop too many. He was apprehended and is in custody.

  • Treasure Island Triple Dipper - $30,000

    Reginald Johnson is not a bright man. He walked into Treasure Island in July 2000 and robbed them. He did it again in October of 2000, shooting at guards while he did. The total take was around $30,000. But that wasn’t enough for Reginald. Nope. He decided to go for thirds. The same casino. Two months later. He got captured and pled guilty.

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