California law enforcement are still searching for the individual who unscrupulously stole over $95,000 from Bankers Casino in Salinas, California on Sunday.
Bankers Casino, pictured above, was the site of the theft. (Image: KSBW )
At around 7 a.m., a masked figure walked into the cardroom, reported by California TV station KSBW. They then proceeded to a place where the money was stored, gathering the loot and placing it in a backpack, before leaving the building unnoticed.
It is unclear whether the money was taken from a cashier’s cage.
The cardroom may have been closed to the public when the heist took place, as the casino’s posted poker hours for Sunday begin at 9 a.m. Saturday’s poker games end at 3 a.m., and the other casino games start at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
The theft was discovered when a casino employee responsible for totalling the amount of cash noticed the missing money. This prompted security guards to review surveillance footage, which revealed the suspect to be an individual between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, weighing around 200 pounds, in black pants and a dark hoodie, along with a black face mask and sunglasses.
The Salinas Police Department was contacted by the casino security guards, and are currently investigating the crime.
Bankers Casino has seen its share of crime, with past incidents including the assault of security guards and officers, and a stabbing.
On Labor Day weekend 2021, a man was arrested following the assault of a casino security guard and the headbutting of a Salinas police officer. Identified as Alvin Harrison, 47, it was alleged he had sprayed the guard with champagne and then threatened to return with a firearm to shoot them.
In April 2021, Jacob Jaime Gallegos was arrested on an attempted murder charge following a stabbing at the casino’s bar, with a 30-year-old man suffering several stab wounds on his chest.
Bankers Casino is situated around 60 miles south of San Jose, California, and is owned by Old Town Investments, according to the California Gambling Control Commission.
