The Hollywood Casino is one of several gaming venues in the Los Angeles area.
A 55-year old Fremont woman was followed home from a casino and violented attacked on the doorstep of her home earlier this month, in order to rob her of casino winnings. The couple accused of perpetrating the robbery have been charged with attempted murder.
The couple, identified as 44-year old Barry Heisner and 45-year old Darlene Marquis of Port Costa, are alleged to have stalked the woman, the beat her in the head with a flashlight.
The couple did not get away with their crime, as they were arrested within 24 hours of the assult. The two were booked in Alameda County Jail and later were charged with robbery and attempted murder.
Gambler Attacked for Casino winnings
The assault happened around 1 am on October 18, after she had a successful night gambling at an unnamed South Bay casino, in the southwest corner of Los Angeles County near Santa Monica. She returned home at about one in the morning, only to be attacked by a man wearing black outside her home on the 40400 block of Citrus Drive.
The assailant used a Maglite flashlight to bash the woman on her head several times. He then stole her purse, which police said contained the woman’s credit cards and identification, as well as significant cash from her casino winnings. The woman’s husband heard the commotion and came to the front door, startling the man and causing him to flee.
Fled the Scene of the Crime
The victim’s husband said he saw the man run to a waiting tan-colored sedan and jump in the passenger’s seat. The sedan quickly sped away. The husband called police and paramedics, and the victim was rushed to a nearby trauma center. The Fremont Police Department did not release additional information about the woman or her condition, but she survived the attack.
Fremont Police investigators went to the casino the woman had been at that evening and asked for surveillance video. Study of the videotape showed a man who seemed to be stalking the woman throughout the casino. Casino security guards identified the man as Barry Heisner, who appeared to be shadowing the woman through the casino. The same video shows Heisner getting into a tan car and following her out of the casino parkling lot.
Home Security Video
Video from the woman’s neighborhood also was used to identify Barry Heisner. Home security video shows a man near the woman’s home getting out of a tan car and walking towards the victim’s home. Moments later, he is seen fleeing to the car, which then speeds down Fremont Boulevard.
Further investigations by the Fremont Police Department showed that Barry Heisner’s girlfriend, 45-year old Darlene Marquis, owns a 1999 tan-colored Toyota Camry. The sedan matches the description of the car videoed following the victim from the casino, as well as parked down the street from the victim’s home.
Arrest in the Getaway Car
The night this connection was made, Fremont Police Department SWAT officers arrested Heisner and Marquis as they drove in the suspected getaway car. When officers searched Darlene Marquis’s Port Costa home, they fond the victim’s wallet, drivers license, credit cards, and purse. They also found a copper Maglite flashlight which matches the description of the attempted murder weapon. Investigators believe it is the weapon used in the attack and have confiscated it as evidence.
Police say they do not know if the attack was a first for Barry Heisner and Darlene Marquis, or whether they had targeted gamblers before. In 2015, a couple of northern California gamblers were attacked after winning thousands of dollars at the casino. In one of those cases, a woman pretended to be having car trouble to lure the male gambler to stop, while her male accomplice appeared and robbed the gambler at gunpoint. Given the different tactics used, the two cases are likely to be two different groups of robbers.
Dayton, Ohio Robbery
Armed robbery of casino gamblers is more common than one might think. Just this week, a woman leaving a Dayton, Ohio casino was assaulted and robbed. The woman said that she had been at the casino for 3 and 1/2 hours and won “a little money“.
As she left the casino and was walking across the parking lot to her car, a man tried to grab her purse. She refused to let go of the purse, so he began to drag her across the parking lot in a tug-of-war. Eventually, the contents of the victim’s purse spilled onto the parking lot and the man fled. A video of the assault was released by Dayton police, who continue to investigate the robbery.
