Bellagio robbery suspects to face trial

Lisa Snedeker

Saturday, July 15, 2000 | 7:53 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Two men suspected in a series of daring casino heists will stand trial for the armed robbery of the Bellagio resort, a judge ruled Friday.

Oscar Cisneros Sanchez and Jose Manuel Vigoa will be arraigned July 24 in District Court on 14 charges, which include robbery, attempted murder and kidnapping.

The charges stem from a robbery at the Strip resort in which two armed men jumped over the casino cage and brazenly made off with about $160,000 in cash and casino chips in full view of security cameras. They fired shots at security guards as they made their escape. A third suspect in the robbery remains at large.

Justice Deborah Lippis ruled there was enough evidence to send Sanchez, 23, and Vigoa, 40, to trial. She ruled, however, that two of the original 16 charges were duplicative and should be dismissed.

Lippis also ruled that she did not find the police lineup in which Sanchez was identified invalid, despite the defense's contention that he was larger than the other suspects.

"I don't find a problem at all," she said.

The pair is being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center.

Law enforcement authorities have linked Sanchez and Vigoa to armored truck robberies at the MGM Grand, New York-New York, Mandalay Bay and Desert Inn hotel-casinos. They are also suspects in an armored truck robbery in Henderson in which two security guards were shot to death.

Prosecutors say they need more evidence in the other holdups to press charges.

"It is a more than likely possibility that additional charges will be filed down the pike," Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said Friday.

It has been reported that DNA tests show that blood found in a getaway vehicle used in the Henderson shooting matches that of Sanchez, a Mexican native.

But Coumou said Friday he could not confirm the evidence. Henderson Police failed to return numerous phone calls.

Security measures were tight during the pair's preliminary hearing as police SWAT team members with automatic weapons patrolled Clark County Courthouse.

A Metro Police fingerprint examiner testified that prints on a plastic bag covering a Russian-made AK47 assault rifle found in Sanchez' home matched those of Sanchez. An AK47 fires the same caliber rounds that killed the Armored Transport guards at the Ross Dress for Less store in Henderson.

Vigoa, a native of Cuba, faces an additional three charges for failing to stop for a police officer, child endangerment and possession of a firearm by an ex-felon.

Vigoa, who is on probation, was convicted in 1991 for cocaine trafficking and assaulting federal officers. His federal probation officer testified that he recognized Vigoa on the Bellagio surveillance tape of the robbery.