LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Las Vegas police arrested a man on several burglary charges during a sting operation set up by Paris Hotel security after he allegedly stole over $5,000 from multiple hotel rooms in the span of nearly two hours, according to an arrest report.
Robert Black faces five counts of residential burglary and one count of attempted residential burglary, records showed.
On June 2, around 4:40 a.m., Paris Hotel Security Investigations set up a suite as a “bait room” due to a spike in room burglaries over the past two months. Security installed hidden cameras, hid suitcases, a wallet with $600 in it, and several other “items of value” throughout the room, the arrest report said.
Security was in the neighboring room watching a live feed of the camera when they saw a person enter the room and grab the wallet from the suitcase. Security entered the room and took the suspect, later identified as Black, into custody, the report said.
When Black was taken into custody, he had $5,365 in U.S. currency and $990 in Canadian currency in his front pockets. He also had a Paris room key, that was registered in another person’s name, and a flathead screwdriver in his pockets, police said.
While investigating the room burglary, several other burglaries were reported to hotel security from people claiming they were missing cash, their peepholes were tampered with, and had markings on their locks, the arrest report said.
Below are the reports given to hotel security and Metro police on June 2, according to the arrest report.
Around 3 a.m., a couple staying in a suite on the ninth floor said while they were sleeping, they heard a door open and saw a shadow in the room. When they heard the door close, the husband got up to look and saw that he was missing $550 from his wallet.
When police arrived they found pry marks around the lock, the peephole was removed and missing, and there was a folded-up “room privacy sign.”
Around 3:30 a.m., another couple staying in a suite on the 11th floor was awakened by the sound of the hotel door opening. The husband immediately got up and asked “Who is it?” No one answered and the door closed. Nothing was taken from the room, the report said.
Around 6 a.m., a person staying in a suite on the seventh floor reported that when he woke up, he found that he was missing about $2,400 in cash and a money clip valued at $80. Police noticed that the room’s peephole was pushed almost all the way through.
Around 6 a.m., a hotel guest staying on the 11th floor reported to security that when he woke up, he found about $1,100 in USD and $800 in Canadian currency missing from his room.
Around 8 a.m., a hotel guest staying on the 12th floor reported that around 3:30 a.m., someone came into their room and stole $244 in cash.
Another couple reported that $925 was taken from their hotel room while they were sleeping.
Police said that all the break-ins happened between 3 a.m. and 4:40 a.m.
Metro police noted several similarities in the burglaries, including all of the rooms being located closest to the elevators down the right side of the hallway, all rooms being in the same wing of the hotel, the peephole on multiple rooms being tampered with, and all the victims were inside the rooms when he entered, the report said.
Black has two previous felony convictions for conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted burglary, both in 2017, records showed.