Crime Sprees Continue at Rapid City, South Dakota Casinos: Suspect in Custody

The city has a colorful past that began in 1874 when gold was uncovered the old-fashioned way: by settlers and miners.

In 1930, the city s Chamber of Commerce invited notorious bootlegger Al Capone to come live in the area, an invitation which the mobster often referred to as Scarface declined to accept. Why the chamber thought Capone would be a positive influence is unclear, as by then the infamous St. Valentines Day massacre had already taken place (1929) in Chicago, leading to Capone to being named Public Enemy #1 by authorities.

By 1931, he d became the object of federal authorities for something far more compelling to them than murder tax evasion which ultimately proved to be his downfall, as he was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

This week’s Rapid City incidents are reminiscent of two other robberies which took place in December 2017 at Jackpot Casino Too, 1415 N. Lacrosse St., also in Rapid City.

Two juveniles were charged in one of those robberies on Dec. 26 as was an adult casino employee who initially pretended to be a victim.  It was not clear if a fourth suspect involved in a Dec. 7 robbery was ever identified by police.

In January 2018, the employee, Carlos Guerrero, 28, of Rapid City, was arrested on two counts of conspiracy and one of grand theft. In the Dec. 7 incident, police initially reported that a suspect allegedly brandished a knife while standing close to Guerrero, and demanded money. The suspect fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

On Dec. 26, Guerrero was in a back office with the safe open when two male suspects walked into the casino and made their way into that back room, allegedly assaulted Guerrero, and took an undisclosed amount of money from the safe.

But as police continued their investigation of the two 2017 robberies, they said they discovered that Guerrero conspired with the suspects in the Dec. 26 robbery.

It could not be immediately determined what happened to Guerrero’s court case, or, what happened to the case involving the juveniles.