Cops supply blowtorch, burn coin truck holdup

Keith Paul

Monday, June 24, 2002 | 11:22 a.m.

The plan to make off with a coin truck loaded with cash was nearly perfect. Its downfall was the need of a blowtorch.

The theft of the truck, which belongs to slot machine route operator United Coin, went off reasonably well Thursday morning. According to Metro Police, a group of men used a tow truck to haul away the unattended coin truck when the driver was inside a business. The problem came when they tried to get inside the truck.

They found a man who said he had a blowtorch and was willing to do a job. Unfortunately for the thieves, the man was an undercover Metro detective.

Their plan, while it seemed well thought out, was doomed to fail because Metro's Repeat Offender Program detectives had been tipped off and had been watching suspicious activity develop at the Silverton hotel.

"We saw a tow truck with California plates and watched it for a couple of days," Metro Lt. Jim Moses said. "For two days we watched it, and then on Thursday the tow truck left with two cars in a caravan."

The ROP detectives and robbery detectives followed the cars to 4900 E. Tropicana Ave. -- Trish's Lounge -- where a United Coin truck had stopped about 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The driver was inside making a pickup.

The tow truck pulled in behind the coin truck, and men in the two other cars could be seen talking on cellular phones, according to an arrest report.

The tow truck driver hooked the coin truck up and drove off. The coin truck was dropped at Newton Drive near Nellis Boulevard, according to the report.

The drivers of the various vehicles left the area and headed back to the Silverton, Moses said.

At some point, police suspect three of the men noticed the surveillance and started to flee.

Ray Wilson, 43, was caught on Interstate 15 south of Jean and arrested about 2 p.m. William Haney, 33, and Daryle Smith, 21, were arrested at the hotel's valet, Moses said.

"They all had (cellular phones with two-way radio capability) so we wanted to get to them before they started talking to each other and tip off the ring leader," Moses said.

Police accuse Starrie Hawkins, 36, of trying to get into the locked coin truck to get to the undisclosed amount of cash inside.

Unaware of any arrests, Hawkins arranged to meet the detective with the blowtorch at a fast food restaurant near the Silverton, according to the police report.

That meeting took place about 4:10 p.m. Thursday -- more than four hours after the coin truck was taken, police allege.

"We didn't have a blowtorch, so we borrowed an oxygen tank from one of the casinos and had a case of nozzles and other tools," Moses said. "He didn't know the difference."

According to the arrest report, "Hawkins met with (the undercover detective) ... and began discussing the price of the plasma cutter and what (the detective) needed to do with the cutter."

Hawkins said enough about the truck and what he was going to do with the torch that he was placed under arrest, according to the report.

"You can't go in with a pry bar pulling on it making all kinds of noise," Moses said. "They just wanted to cut the lock and get right in."

The coin truck, which had been reported stolen by the driver, remained in the neighborhood where it was left, watched by detectives.

Wilson, Smith, Haney and Hawkins were booked into the Clark County jail on grand larceny, grand larceny auto and conspiracy charges.

But Moses said one man was able to get away and detectives are continuing to try to identify and locate him. Police also were not able to locate the tow truck. It apparently had fake license plates.