Mall stakeout nets surprise suspect

Jen Lawson

Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 | 11:15 a.m.

John Sipes, also known as Vito Bruno, served five years in prison for his involvement in the execution-style slaying of a computer programmer who blew the whistle on one of the biggest slot machine rigging operations in Las Vegas history.

With three months of freedom under his belt, Sipes, 44, allegedly stole a $1,995 suit jacket from Nordstrom at the Fashion Show mall on Sunday and was nabbed by security guards and by Metro Police detectives assigned to a task force aimed at combatting holiday-linked crimes at malls and shopping centers.

This is an example of how the "2004 Holiday Initiative" works, Lt. Ted Snodgrass said -- a team of robbery detectives, SWAT officers and patrol officers working closely with security to make stores safe for holiday shoppers, and put the bad guys behind bars.

Often, officers encounter thieves who have a violent past, or who turn a theft into a robbery by struggling with officers when confronted.

"We're not looking at the person who grabs the $4 pair of sunglasses," Snodgrass said.

Some thieves flash a knife or gun at security guards, knowing that some of the guards aren't allowed to take an armed person into custody, then make off with armloads of merchandise.

Others steal items then later try to return them. That's what police say Sipes and his wife did.

According to a police report, Sipes allegedly stole a black sports coat from Nordstrom at the Fashion Show Mall on Nov. 26, "Black Friday."

The next day, his wife of three weeks, Sandra Shults, also known as Sandra Morris, 40, tried to return the jacket to Nordstrom but was turned away because she didn't have a receipt. A security guard followed her to the parking lot and copied down her license plate.

On Saturday, Metro Police arrested Sipes and Shults on unrelated charges of heroin possession and other offenses. Police also found a receipt in Sipes' possession from Neiman Marcus, indicating that the Nordstrom sport jacket had successfully been returned to Neiman Marcus earlier that day. The store had given Shults a refund in the form of a check.

Sipes and Shults were booked into the Clark County Detention Center for obtaining money under false pretenses, burglary and grand larceny.

Records show Sipes was released from prison Sept. 1 after serving five years of a ten-year sentence for solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

He pleaded guilty in 1999 for his role in the 1990 death of Larry Volk, a 49-year-old computer programmer for American Coin Co., which operated more than 1,000 video poker machines in Southern Nevada.

Volk allegedly had been ordered by the owners of American Coin, who were friends with Sipes, to alter the computer chips so they wouldn't pay out when a player hit a royal flush when betting the maximum amount of coins.

Volk eventually reported the scam to the authorities, and it cost him his life. Sipes allegedly recruited David Lemons to kill Volk, who was shot in the head while working on his car in his driveway.

Before he was sentenced in 1999, Sipes wrote a letter to District Judge Joseph Bonaventure expressing remorse for his actions.

"I will do my time and upon my release I hope to return to society and make some kind of meaningful contribution," the letter said.

Since the monthlong holiday initiative started two weeks ago, police have made 27 arrests on charges such as robbery, burglary and grand larceny.

This year the program was expanded to not only include the larger malls such as Fashion Show, Boulevard and Meadows, but also smaller, free-standing stores and hardware stores such as Lowe's and Home Depot.

Last year, the first year of the initiative, a total of 40 people were arrested.

The program "is a tremendous benefit for retailers and shoppers," said Carrier Renfrow, senior marketing manager for the Boulevard mall.