Sebastian Gonzales, the 20-year old man in the pig mask, claimed his family was threatened if he did not participate.
Men in animal masks tried to rob a jewelry store inside the Bellagio casino and hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.
The sight of the robbers using sledgehammers to break windows sent freightened patrons fleeing throughout the retail section of the complex.
Metropolitan police said, at around 3:00am on Saturday morning, that three men wearing animal masks and tuxedos smashed windows at the jewelry store and pocketed the items inside. One witness to the event took a picture with a smartphone and posted it to Twitter.
Man in Tuxedo and Pig Mask Photographed
In the picture, a robber is standing in his pig mask next to a Rolex sign, while peering around a corner. The woman who posted the picture, Kir_Kamil on Twitter, told the online community that the man tried to flee on foot, but was apprehended.
The woman identified as Kir_Kamil, who works as a waitress in the Bellagio complex, said to her Twitter followers, “Literally just witnessed an armed robber in a pig mask at a Rolex store at the Bellagio & then his arrest.”
That information was not entirely correct, because the Bellagio casino-resort does not have a Rolex store. Bellagio is home to several jewelry retail stores, including Tiffany, Harry Winston, Omega, and Tesorini.
False Claims of a Shooter
In the confusion of the moment, other misinformation spread. Witnesses claimed it was an active shooter situation, but Las Vegas police said neither the robbers nor law enforcement fired a weapon. They said that bystanders probably mistook the breaking of glass with sledgehammers for gunfire.
Due to the strange garb and brazen attempt at robbery, confusion reigned for a time. The local police see a lot of strange sights on the Las Vegas Strip, but even they seemed to be at a loss for words. Las Vegas Metropolitan PD Lt. Carlos Hank told a reporter from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “It is like a movie, it’s just crazy.”
Hapless Escape Attempt
The Las Vegas Sun reported that the robbers tried to escape using a car they parked in the Bellagio parking garage. When that car failed to start, they tried to carjack a passerby. When that did not work, they tried to flee on foot and were apprehended by police. When contacted for a statement, officials at the Bellagio declined comment.
Subsequent to the arrests in the case, the suspect in the pig mask, 20-year old Sebastian Gonzales, told police his family was threatened if he did not take part in the crime. Gonzales claimed to police investigators that he was given a sledgehammer, a fake gun, and communication equipment and told to rob the jewelry store. Gonzales also claimed those who put him up to the crime wanted enough jewelry to sell for $2 million in Mexico. He claimed he was given a pig mask by the men, because he is overweight.
Those arrested in the attempted Bellagio burglary were charged with felony conspiracy, burglary, attempted robbery and weapon charges.
Police Shut Down Las Vegas Strip
An unrelated police incident happened near the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip just hours after the Bellagio robbery. Police shut down the Las Vegas Strip for a 3-hour standoff after a man barricaded himself in a bus. The standoff happened after the man shot two victims on the bus.
Both were transported to a local hospital and one of them died of their wounds. Metro police spokesman Larry Hadfield said in a statement, “The shooting incident happened on the bus. We had one single shooting incident with two victims. Both were transported to the trauma center and one is deceased.”
Shooting on a Bus Near Cosmopolitan
The shooter was a man in his 50s who began to fire randomly at passengers on the bus, according to Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts. Despite the random shooting into the crowd, police assured that the incident was not terrorist-related.
Instead, the man appears to have been suffering from delusions when he fired into the crowd. Authorities spoke with the man for three hours before convincing him to give himself up. They seemed to believe the man is schizophrenic.
“Delusional and Talked about Seeing People”
Tom Roberts told reporters, “He was on the second floor of the bus and started shooting at passengers. He was delusional and talked about seeing people, so he was definitely not with it and suffered some mental health issues.”
Larry Hadfield added, “This is a single incident and is not deemed to be terrorism related.”
