Valley robbery rate drops overall

Jen Lawson

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 10:48 a.m.

There have been 9 percent fewer robberies in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County in the first four months of this year compared with the same period of last year, Metro Police said.

The robbery category includes a variety of crimes, however, and there haven't been decreases in all of them. Home invasions, carjackings and taxi robberies were down, but there were more bar robberies, street robberies and bank robberies.

The number of bar robberies, for example, is way up -- 50 reported to Metro in the first four months of this year compared with 15 for the same period of last year.

Still, Lt. Ted Snodgrass, the leader of Metro's robbery section, said, the overall robbery total indicates "it just isn't a good time to be a robber in Las Vegas."

In January, police set out to reduce robberies by 10 percent, Snodgrass said.

Their success may be attributable to special police operations, arrests by alert patrol officers, and convictions and stiff sentences obtained by the district attorney's office, Snodgrass said.

And, he added, "You can't rule out the luck factor."

Luck came into play May 7 when three men committed a home invasion robbery near Gowan Road and Durango Drive.

After allegedly shooting one of the two victims in the leg, the suspects went out to their car and it wouldn't start, Snodgrass said. They ran through the neighborhood, arousing the suspicions of neighbors, who called 911.

Dozens of Metro cops happened to be blocks away attending a memorial ceremony for Marc Kahre, an officer killed in the line of duty in 1988, at an elementary school named after him.

Officers quickly responded to the call and arrested the alleged robbers. The pockets of the suspects were stuffed with cash.

There were 29 percent fewer home invasion robberies reported to Metro in the first four months of the year -- 55 compared with 77 during the same period of 2003, police said.

One main reason for the decline is that a good portion of the older crimes were committed by gang members who are now in prison, Snodgrass said.

A more deliberate effort aimed at thwarting robberies is one in which detectives dress up as vulnerable victims, using clothing and makeup to make them look elderly, for example, as a way to reduce downtown street muggings.

Muggings account for about 45 percent of all of Metro's robberies.

The operation began last year and word has gotten around about the stings, Snodgrass believes, which he said may account for the decline.

Two areas in which Metro --and valley residents-- has been less lucky lately are bar and bank robberies.

Bank robberies, investigated by the FBI and Metro, have gone from 28 last year to 39 this year, but bar robberies have increased at a greater rate.

"Bar robberies have really gotten us," he said. There were 15 between Jan. 1 and April 30 last year. The number jumped to 50 for the same period this year.

Most of them were committed by at least two groups of bandits who are now behind bars, he said.

A group of four pulled a dramatic robbery in March at the Dispensary Lounge at Tropicana and Eastern avenues that resulted in a patron running after the suspects outside and shooting at them.

One of the suspects jumped over a wall and escaped. Another crashed his car then carjacked a driver waiting in line at a nearby fast food joint.

It wasn't the first robbery for that group and it wasn't the last, police said. They were nabbed not too long after the Dispensary robbery after holding up a jewelry store.

Snodgrass said members of the group took turns pulling the robberies, and they're suspected of committing at least six.

Another group of four primarily targeted PT's Pubs. Police believe they committed at least four robberies. Their spree ended in January when they were apprehended.

While the number of cab driver robberies has dropped -- there were 25 from Jan. 1 to April 30 last year and 12 in that period this year -- authorities saw a sudden spike recently. There have been five since May 1.

"It's been a significant couple of weeks," Yvette Moore, administrator for the Taxicab Authority, said. Investigators with the Taxicab Authority, who are sworn peace officers, investigate all taxicab-related crimes with Metro.

The winter holiday season is the Taxicab Authority's peak time for robberies, so having this many in such a short period of time is "extremely unusual," she said, adding that it's likely a fluke.

Drivers have green lights on top of their cabs, intended to be switched on by drivers when they are in danger.

If any member of the public sees a taxi's green light illuminated, Moore said they should call 911.

Robbers who target cab drivers are usually also charged with kidnapping in addition to robbery, she said, which results in significant prison time.

"It doesn't pay to rob a cab," Moore said. "You get $62 and you get life."