Greektown Casino will be renamed “Jack Detroit Casino Hotel Greektown” in May 2018.
At 4:07am on Dec. 2, an argument between four men at the Greektown Casino Hotel turned fatal. After a fight broke out in a hotel room on the ninth floor, the four men headed for the elevator. After a shooting in the hotel elevator, only three walked out of it alive.
Around 4:00am, 28-year-old Shunsaiah Glaze left the room and headed for the elevator while Rodney Pritchett, 29, Shawn Wilson, 30, and Carlile Jackson, 30 – all residents of Detroit — quickly followed after Glaze. After initial investigation, police believe Rodney Pritchett shot Shunsaiah Glaze in the torso with a handgun. Wilson and Jackson are being held as accessories, because they allegedly tampered with evidence that was left in the elevator.
Shunsaiah Glaze was privately transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. All the three men have been charged in connection with the murder by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. All three will be tried in the court of Judge Lydia Nance Adams.
Rodney Pritchett: The Alleged Shooter
Not much is known about the three alleged murderers. Court documents show that Rodney Pritchett has been charged with First Degree Premeditated Murder and Felony Firearm. He was arraigned and imprisoned on December 4, 2017. Pritchett’s probable cause conference is on December 14, 2017 at 8:30 and his preliminary examination is on December 21, 2017.
Shawn Wilson: Accessory to Murder
Two days later, Shawn Wilson was arrested as a possible accessory to murder. Wilson has been charged by Detroit Police with Second Degree Murder, Tampering with Evidence, as well as Felony Firearm. He was arraigned and imprisoned on December 6, 2017
Wilson’s probable cause conference is on December 14, 2017 at 8:30 and, along with the two others charged in the crime, has his preliminary examination is on December 21, 2017.
Carlile Jackson: Accessory to Murder
A day after Shawn Wilson was arrested, Carlile Jackson was detained by police as a suspect in the crime. Jackson has been charged with Second Degree Murder and Tampering with Evidence. He was arraigned and imprisoned on December 7, 2017.
No motive was given for the crime, besides the angry hotel room fight which preceded the elevator shooting.
2015 Greektown Loomis Theft
This is not the first serious criminal incident at Greektown Casino over the past few years. In November 2015, a man dressed as a security guard stole over $500,000 in cash from a Loomis truck.
As the Loomis security van sat on the corner of Monroe Avenue and Beaubien Street to unload cash to the casino, the man walked up to van and told him to, “Open up.” When the driver did, the impostor simply walked to the back of the van, grabbed boxes of money, and walked away. Officer Jennifer Moreno, who investigated the crime, said, “The suspect approached the back of the vehicle, took bags of money and fled. There were no injuries, and the incident is under investigation.”
After the incident, law enforcement impounded the van and detained the Loomis driver. For hours after the robbery, Detroit police and local FBI officials interrogated the van driver, on the knowledge that such incidents sometimes include an insider. The driver was never charged for a crime, so authorities believe he did not have an active role in the crime.
Sentencing of the Loomis Robbers
Sgt. Cassandra Lewis of the Detroit Police Department said the Detroit news media characterized the crime in the wrong fashion, because the thief was not armed. Lewis 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. It was a larceny as opposed to a robbery. No weapon was used, no threats, no force, and no injuries.”
Eventually, two men were arrested for the crime: Brandon Allen Jackson and David Linnell Troupe, both of Detroit. David Linnnell Troupe was the man who walked up to the driver and distracted him, while Brandon Allen Jackson stole away with the cash. Jackson and Troupe were sentenced to 37 months in prison on one count of bank fraud by U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith, after being charged with several crimes. in what prosecutors called a “brazen crime in broad day light”.
2016 Greektown Casino Rebranding Effort
By now, most people assumed Greektown Casino Hotel would be operating under a different name. Famous resident Dan Gilbert, the billionaire owner of Quicken Loans and the Cleveland Cavaliers, bought Greektown Casino in 2013.
Gilbert’s Rock Gaming LLC owns several casinos, including the former Horseshoe Casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Rock Gaming eventually rebranded those casinos “Jack Casino”, and announced plans to do the same to Greektown Casino in 2016.
Purchase of the Greektown Casino was part of a $1 billion urban renewal project by Dan Gilbert, who was born and raised in Detroit. During his childhood, Gilbert’s father owned a bar on Woodward Avenue only a few miles from Greektown Casino. At the time, Rock Gaming spokeswoman Jennifer Kulczycki said, “I’ve heard Dan say that he spent the first 50 years of his life building Quicken Loans and now he’s going to spend the next 50 years making Detroit what it once was.”
Jack Detroit Casino Hotel Greektown
In February 2016, Rock Gaming announced a $40 million rebranding effort to rename Greektown the “Jack Detroit Casino Hotel Greektown”. The plan was to reshape Gilbert’s four casino with the Jack name, because “Jack” is “that friend that got you to do things you knew you probably shouldn’t do.”
Robert Kolt, a professor of advertising and public relations at Michigan State University, characterized the announcement as a way to spruce up the casino’s image. Kolt said, “Greektown as an image for the casino was kind of old and tired. Any rebranding effort is going to be a good investment. Every so often you want to put a fresh coat of paint on the house, and that’s what they’re doing.”
Matt Cullen, CEO of Jack Entertainment, was not as adamant about the image reconstruction. In 2016, Cullen told The Detroit News, “We’re not at all distancing ourselves from Greektown. It’s a legacy we’re proud of. We’re not trying to move away from it. We just want all our properties linked under one banner.”
September 2017 Jack Casino Sign
In September 2017, a new 1500-unit sign was added to the Greektown Casino, which said “JACK Detroit Casino-Hotel“. The sign was installed at the top of the 30-story Greektown hotel on September 30, though the complete rebranding effort will not be complete until May 2018.
The plan is to spend millions of dollars to transform the Market District into the “Munroe Market”. The refurbishment of the Market District includes 6 new restaurants and eateries. Inside the casino, a new bar and a Japanese restaurant are planned.
Jack Detroit Casino Hotel Greektown Shooting
In the case of Shunsaiah Glaze’s murder, the three suspected murderers are scheduled to appear in Judge Lydia Nance Adam’s 36th District Court on December 14. Rodney Pritchett, Carlile Jackson, and Shawn Wilson are scheduled for Dec. 14 probable cause conference, then return to court on December 21 for a preliminary examination.
