Metro Cops Search for Summerlin, Nev. Casino Parking Lot Carjacking Suspect

Posted on: September 18, 2021, 09:11h. 

Last updated on: September 19, 2021, 12:34h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Nevada police continue to investigate this week’s carjacking in the parking lot of Summerlin’s Red Rock Casino Resort Spa. The suspect appears to remain at large as of this weekend.

He ordered her to turn over the keys to her 2021 white Toyota Sienna
Summerlin, Nev.’s Red Rock Casino Resort Spa, pictured above. A vehicle was carjacked from the casino parking lot this week. (Image. Wikipedia)

On Wednesday night, a silver sedan pulled up to an unnamed woman in the lot. An armed man exited the car and ordered her to turn over the keys to her 2021 white Toyota Sienna.

The victim complied and handed over her property,” police said in a statement. The suspect then fled in the car.

He brandished a firearm during the 11:28 pm holdup. The suspect was described as being in his 20s.

The woman did not suffer any physical injuries, according to initial police reports.

Some 40 minutes later, police found the Toyota in East Charleston. The car was unoccupied and police began to search for the suspect.

The carjacking was the second such crime in Summerlin taking place in the last two weeks, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. On Sept. 2, a different woman was assaulted and robbed in a different parking lot, police said.

“(She) was approached in the parking lot by two (to) four suspects, who took her purse, hit her on the side of the head, and stole her white Mercedes,” police said in a statement quoted by the Review-Journal.

The suspects then fled the area. It did not appear they had been apprehended as of earlier this week. The woman’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, based on initial police reports.

Earlier Carjackings

In an unrelated incident, Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Micah May died during a July 27 police pursuit of a carjacking suspect on Interstate 15 near Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas. The incident took place near the Las Vegas Strip. Several large casinos are located in the area.

May was struck while deploying stop-sticks on I-15 attempting to apprehend the armed carjacking suspect. The suspect was later shot dead by police on the highway, as he appeared to be reaching for the trooper’s firearm.

In May, there also was an armed carjacking in Reno. Marcus Mendez, 18, initially went up to another man. Mendez, who was armed, then allegedly demanded the victim’s keys. The suspect drove away from the scene in the stolen car, police said.

Later, the car was found near the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno. It had crashed. Mendez was later arrested, KOLO, a local TV station, reported.

Jump in Carjackings

In February, Las Vegas Metro police Capt. Fred Haas said the department saw about a 30 percent jump in carjackings, based on data from earlier this year, the Review-Journal said.