Venetian Dealer shoots boss at picnic party.
Link to the Article
This is very sad.
To Hector, I wish you a speedy recovery. To Mia, I enjoyed every minute of our short time working together. Your memory burns brightly in my heart.
General atmosphere in decline or was this the first employee to snap with all others hanging by a thread one step away from buying a gun?
Quote: FleaStiffWell, it may be true that "these things happen" but what was declining for fourteen years? Tokes gone south? Promotion or shift change or rotation denied?
General atmosphere in decline or was this the first employee to snap with all others hanging by a thread one step away from buying a gun?
People like to blame everything but themselves. This was not the casinos fault. This was not any supervisors fault. This was not the guns fault. This is the fault of a mentally ill or morally bankrupt individual.
ZCore13
Quote: WizardI knew both people well, who were shot. They were the only two executives at the Venetian LV who were nice to me and receptive to my ideas. I remained in contact with Hector, the one who survived, ever since I left the Venetian. We were supposed to have lunch my next visit. He asked me a question on shufflers just the other day. His business card is on my important bulletin board. Mia was nice enough to surprise me after I moderated a talk at G2E a few years ago to give me the latest Venetian $8 chips, which she knew I collected. She was a beautiful woman. Her daughter was a high-level tennis player and she enjoyed taking her to tournaments.
This is very sad.
To Hector, I wish you a speedy recovery. To Mia, I enjoyed every minute of our short time working together. Your memory burns brightly in my heart.
I have been dealing with Hector for a few years now. This is always a terrible thing to hear, regardless of who is involved.
I'm so sorry for Mia's Family's loss and wish Hector a speedy recovery as well.
Terrible news.
Quote: WizardI knew both people well, who were shot. They were the only two executives at the Venetian LV who were nice to me and receptive to my ideas. I remained in contact with Hector, the one who survived, ever since I left the Venetian. We were supposed to have lunch my next visit. He asked me a question on shufflers just the other day. His business card is on my important bulletin board. Mia was nice enough to surprise me after I moderated a talk at G2E a few years ago to give me the latest Venetian $8 chips, which she knew I collected. She was a beautiful woman. Her daughter was a high-level tennis player and she enjoyed taking her to tournaments.
This is very sad.
To Hector, I wish you a speedy recovery. To Mia, I enjoyed every minute of our short time working together. Your memory burns brightly in my heart.
Hector was the guy who pursued and green-lighted my game testing on their floor. Only met him a couple times, but a very nice guy. He has a very tough road ahead medically. I'm very sorry to hear this. My condolences to the friends and family of Mia. Terrible news is right.
Terrible news.Quote: WizardI knew both people well, who were shot. They were the only two executives at the Venetian LV who were nice to me and receptive to my ideas.
Sorry for the loss, both to you as well as to them and their families.
Sigh... When will the shooting end?
Quote: beachbumbabsHector was the guy who pursued and green-lighted my game testing on their floor. Only met him a couple times, but a very nice guy. He has a very tough road ahead medically. I'm very sorry to hear this. My condolences to the friends and family of Mia. Terrible news is right.
Hector was definitely a friend of game inventors. There is usually some new game on the Venetian and/or Palazzo floor. He was not afraid to try new things and take chances. He believed in having a diverse floor and giving players something new to play, if they wanted. Some might throw stones at him over triple-zero roulette, but the game did better for the property than double-zero roulette. Hard to argue with success. He would probably say he was just giving players what they wanted.
Quote: DJTeddyBearTerrible news.
Sorry for the loss, both to you as well as to them and their families.
Sigh... When will the shooting end?
When man ceases to exist.
holy wtf?Quote: GlenGCrazy story....and the guy is still at large. The VP of Casino Mgmt was the one killed. Employee who was interviewed mentioned that pay and employee satisfaction has been worse and worse over the years. She said she wasent surprised
Link to the Article
it's a tip paying position.
if things are bad, quit and work someone place else.
if you work for tips, should be easy to find another job since it doesn't cost employers much to hire you since most of your pay is subsidized from customers.
unless it was personal...
"Declining employee pay and morale" is not specific to the Venetian, nor to the casino industry. It is a society-wide situation as Corporate America realigns its values to correspond to those of the stock market.
Quote: DRichDid it say that he was targeting those two people? I just saw that he opened fire on a table of executives.
A dealer shooting the Director of Table Games and Vice President of Casino Operations sounds like targeting to me.
As you may know, I worked at the Venetian in 2012. One of people I felt closest to there was Mia Banks. I don't remember her exact job title, but I believe she was second in command of table games at the Venetian and Palazzo.
Mia was with the Venetian since it's opening in 1999. She seemed highly liked and respected by everybody. Unlike may executives there, she was not a slave to the job but and warm approachable by all.
I recall our conversations of our shared interest in collecting $8 Chinese new year chips. She is the only other person I know of to share this hobby. She also told stories of being a devoted tennis mom, as her daughter was one of the best high school tennis players in the state, if memory serves me correctly.
After I left the company, I moderated a session at the Global Gaming Expo. Mia surprised me afterward with the latest Venetian $8 chips, which are difficult to get. That was the last time I ever saw her.
I'm very sad to say that Mia was killed in an ambush yesterday at a Venetian company picnic. Next to her was fellow table games executive Hector Rodriguez, who was seriously wounded. I will write about him separately.
I can't say that I knew Mia extremely well, but of the short time we spent together, I found her to be a beautiful, smart, and charming woman with a wonderful sense of humor. The world is a lesser place without her in it. Rest in Peace, Mia.
This photo is from the Las Vegas Review Journal. For more information, visit Woman killed at company picnic in Las Vegas park identified.
Quote: GreasyjohnAnthony Wrobel has been arrested in Texas.
report: "fled in car he planted"
not an impulsive act, he really planned this thing
It was a fairly large picnic. He asked someone where the two victims were sitting and then walked up to that table and started shooting.
List of targets: He had no better opportunity than then, so I doubt such a list existed. He drove away and left the area.
Unions: Housekeepers were highest paid which kept out the unions. Other positions similarly.
Most Vegas unions have industry wide bargaining so the contract is between the union and all casinos in town that recognize the union. That is why it is important for an employer to never bargain with anyone who says he represents the workers because once an employer treats them as the representative, then they are until a supermajority of the workers votes them out.
Various Texas authorities made the arrest but all press were referred to LVPD for comments.
It seems that Anthony Wrobel left Las Vegas going northbound on the 15, because he stole a license plate in the Cedar, Utah. I can see him not wanting to drive through other states with a Nevada license plate, especially when there were photographs published about his appearance and the shooting probably made national news. He was apprehended in Vega, Texas.
He drove to the airport perhaps thinking he would gain time as flights were checked but it was immediately apparent that he had switched vehicles and was now driving a getaway car he had stashed there three days earlier.
After the license plate theft in Utah, he pulled into a Texas rest area and was sleeping as a Texas cop simply happened to run his plate without any suspicions and got back nothing but a stolen plate report. Texas authorities awakened the sleeping motorist who soon dropped his weapon and surrendered. Shortly after the arrest, Texas authorities received word of the federal warrant and murder charges.
The initial raid on the shooters residence revealed a largely empty apartment with one sheet of paper listing his grievances. Apparently there was no list of additional targets.
So sad having your mother killed senselessly. :(
Here this Texas cop just entered the plate into the computer. No probable cause, no suspicion, no reason ... just time on his hands.
This incident happened to pay off. Many do.
Quote: FleaStiffHere this Texas cop just entered the plate into the computer. No probable cause, no suspicion, no reason ...
I don't think they need one. I did a ride-along in Santa Barbara and the police officer looked up the license plate of the car in front of him at every red light as well as many other times.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TurboHD-TVI-720p-Bullet-Camera-6-22mm-Motorized-Lens-40m-IR-License-Plate-Reader/142587942743?hash=item2132e75757:g:sPcAAOSwbtNaEOBu
First, glad they got the deranged scumbag quickly. So congrats & thanks to the officers involved who found him snoozing by the highway in Vega & snatched him up; good work. So with that said:
I've unintentionally become kind of familiar with Vega & environs (NOT to be confused with Vegas) during a lot of road trips to & from my Mohave Desert home & some cities in the Midwest. I seriously think doing this sort of thing, putting handcuffs on people who some other place says aren't supposed to be running around loose (and keeping stuff pried out of their filthy no-good paws by the side of the road like any money & dope & vehicles they have) might really amount to a significant industry for the dozens of people of Vega & Oldham County, TX. I don't go out of my way to think about the little place at all, but it seems I'm constantly hearing about yet another "busted in Vega" thing happening.
Stuff like these recent examples that were convenient to snip (with many, many more of them than one might imagine possible on the empty Oldham Co. plains near tiny little Vega);
1 person arrested after DPS trooper finds marijuana in traffic stop (April 10):
Quote:One person has been arrested after more than 100 pounds of marijuana was seized during a traffic stop on Monday.
Around 10:00 a.m., a DPS trooper stopped a car traveling east on I-40 near Vega for a traffic violation.
A DPS K-9 arrived on the scene and alerted to drugs in the car. Officials say the trooper then...
Traffic stop leads to seizure of 19 pounds of heroin (April 2):
Quote:...stopped a 2017 Nissan Rogue traveling east on I-40 near Vega, for a traffic violation. The Trooper discovered seven bundles of heroin concealed inside the spare tire...
TX DPS seize 200 pounds of marijuana during traffic stop in Oldham County (March 26):
Quote:The Texas Department of Public Safety seized 200 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop...
...pulled over a Nissan Altima driving east on I-40 near Vega for a traffic violation...
2 facing money laundering charges after traffic stop near Vega
Quote:...stopped a car traveling west on I-40 near Vega for a traffic violation.
DPS officials say the trooper then found five vacuum-sealed packages of cash, more than $355,000, hidden inside the car...
IIRC I think the weatherbeaten "Welcome to Vega" sign claims a population of around 800 or so, and I'm pretty sure it is the only thing resembling any kind of a town on that stretch of I-40 (the old Route 66) so there probably can't be more than another 100 or so souls within an hour wide circle of it. And about the only visible commerce besides a couple of truck stops and a Dairy Queen is apparently government: mostly sheriff & highway troopers & road crews, unless everything else that might produce a regular check is buried underground. It is about halfway between Tucumcari & Amarillo, and that makes it about halfway between Albuquerque & Oklahoma City, which means it is pretty much THE wide spot on the windswept road along a 300 mile stretch of not very much of anything that's taller than a jackrabbit or fence post. And the N-S highways to alternate routes also connect around that same Vega area billiard-table flat-land patch of mesquite & sage & scrub without a major bump on the landscape from horizon to horizon.
So definitely sort of a transparent route that makes everything that moves visible from far away & a choke point or almost semi-mandatory pit stop for east-west travel by anything except a mule. Anecdotally apart from current highway bust news reports, on my entertainment idiot tube again his past week for about the umpteenth time that I can recall, the other day there was yet another 'true-crime-whodunit' episode or manhunt documentary type show that I wasn't even trying to pay attention to that reached some kind of conclusion, once again, with the escaping bad dude getting caught buying gas or using a urinal there. Jimmy Hoffa would surely turn up there if the diligence of local folk policing their piece of road had anything to do with it.
Probably this gets done legitimately a lot of times, I imagine often starting with observation of information in plain view in many cases, involving a lot of very guilty creeps who need to get caught, like this murdering psycho. All of which one would view as a bit different than the not so notorious caper in the trivial example below, told by an arguably shady guy at heart, who is no doubt made of questionable moral fiber, but with no actual criminally illegal acts involved in my topic replies posted in a discussion here a few years ago as part of this thread: https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/general/24208-civil-forfeiture-gone-wild-police-take-more-than-burglars/
Quote: DrawingDeadIn a recent cross-country trip I experienced what I believe was an obvious civil forfeiture fishing expedition. I don't feel like going into all the details, but it began with a sheriff's deputy of whatever that sparsely populated little county was at my window politely telling me: "The reason I pulled you over is you were doing 79 on this highway posted for a limit of 75, but I'm not going to write you a ticket for it..." Huh? WTF? I resisted the temptation to say something like: "Are you sure? Because I'm usually not that slow, and definitely haven't been for most of this trip, and neither are any of the eighteen-wheel trucks zooming along on this desolate piece of road with me, so I must've gone by you at an unusually pokey moment; lucky I didn't get run over by one of them if I was really that slow." But instead I edited that thought slightly into: "Yessir."
Then the middle of the peculiar 'traffic stop' involved some rather unusual (to me) questions such as: "Have you come this way before? How often? Are you carrying any large amounts of cash?" Okay, now I think I'm getting what this is about, and it isn't four friggen MPH. It is about my plates being from several states away.
It ended with nothing forfeited and no lasting consequences for me (I'm prolly the most fastidiously legal S.O.B who was on that road) other than having to repack three weeks worth of bags by the side of the highway next to a cow pasture and put them back in my car. But I have now completely evolved my opinion from 'this sounds a little paranoid' into 'this is really officially without a doubt totally out of control, and it really needs to start costing the Sheriff of Nottingham something to keep doing it' if they don't feel like that pesky little business of the Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights applies to them, or to windy desolate places near cow pastures.
For context on my little unscheduled cow pasture tour above, someone who doesn't already know this might like to learn that in spite of my best efforts to sometimes try to look dangerously illicit enough to get laid, I'm still generally much more likely to be mistaken for someone who'd be running for Sheriff of Mayberry than ever Comin' Into LossAngelees Bringin' Ina Coupla' Keys Sodon' Touchmybags Ifyouplease Mister Customsman. So for anyone who might be going that way, my conclusion is that Vega is an excellent place for any guys that are already official criminals on the lam from the law, who've decided they are definitely getting tired of running & sneaking around & would like to know the most likely spot on the continent to meet some uniformed government officials ready to hook them up.Quote: DrawingDeadI have no doubt whatsoever that I met some kind of profile he was instructed to use, and that as soon as he lit me up (for 79 in a 75) he was sure he had everything he needed to proceed down that path as far as he needed to by the policy he was given to follow. Though other than the plates that were very non-local I really don't know what the elements of that profile would be. He was a very young fellow, had to be very junior in his agency no matter how small that county might be, and I don't believe he was acting "rogue" in any way. The entire interaction was done in a very professional manner and was very civil, and considering all the circumstances my goal was to be sure to keep it that way. So long as it did not become a power struggle, I was confident how it would end. With an annoyance, but no more under my circumstances.
Perhaps the 'small talk' was maybe a bit interesting to note. "So what brings you headed all the way up there?" "I'm going to see some baseball games." "Oh yeah, who they playing?...Huh, sounds interesting, when is that game on?...etc." Momma may have raised an occasional fool, but not a complete idiot. A distinction with a difference. That was no small talk. A minute of reflection and I'm sure it will occur to you why it wasn't, or wouldn't have been if I chose to continue down the friendly cooperative conversational path but somehow didn't know who and when. But I had tickets and hotel bookings sitting in my padfolio with my route map, other arrangements for cash transfer, and no dope or hand grenades in my trunk. Lucky me. So I may not have had four aces, but at least a set of jacks. So long as he was on the level and professional on his end, which he was, apart from that little detail about a local policy of using a flimsy pretext for initiating a fishing expedition. If I had a brick of cash sitting in the car for my long trip that someone might say is "a lot?" Hmmm.
I should also mention that he made a point of telling me repeatedly something to the effect that "we always do this..." meaning ask those questions and look in bags routinely for traffic stops. I have a hard time picturing THAT. And certainly didn't picture it "always" for anyone allegedly doing all of 4mph over the posted speed. I'm sure they do get their share of drug mules and whatnot that way from some single digit % of such stops, but it wasn't destined to be the county treasurer's lucky day, and cost me all of about 20 minutes and no cents.
And from my experience, for other folks who are not so officially interesting including those who are not yet on any wanted posters, either traveling with a bunch of so far still undiscovered hookers & blow stuffed in their trunk, as well as just everyday boring innocent travelers, I recommend doing the opposite of what I did. I suggest blowing through Vega at > 90mph in a primer & Bondo-putty junker with bald tires, broken tailights, expired tags, bullet holes in the windshield, a bong hanging from the rearview mirror, and an assortment of "Up Against The Wall Fascist Pigs!" and "Death To America!" type bumperstickers. So that way, they will be a lot more likely to ignore you as someone who obviously isn't likely to ever have any liquid assets worth bothering to find & seize in any kind of civil forfeiture thing. Not like my foolish straight-arrow too responsible & potentially profitable looking presence on a trip to some baseball games.
But with so much time available for doing some of this arguably dubious not so clearly legitimate work with a tad less than the purest of public safety incentives, I'm glad the fine eagle eyed highway guardians of Vega also nabbed someone, again, who needed to be caged as quickly & efficiently as they did. So there's no need to look for me on my next trip for a future attitude adjustment conversation, guys, because I said you did good. Very good, and thanks. Just telling folks here how surprisingly much of it you do out there at such a small place.
The quick thinking cashier called the cops and said something like,"I have the murderer who is on the run in my fast food drive thru waiting for the rest of his food. Come quickly before he catches on and drives off." The cops came quickly and arrested him. Luckily he was dumb enough to stop at a fast food place while he was on the run or he could have still been at large to this day.
Jurisdictions often argue over the finger print and booking fees with smaller forces not wanting to pay for processing prisoners from larger, urban areas.
One jurisdiction was having a Kidnapped Female in Progress situation when surveillance cameras from a traffic camera caught the suspect vehicle being passed by an undercover license plate reader vehicle. The plate did not come back as wanted so the cops had to manually go into the computer hard drive to get the data but it did give them the license plate number they wanted which the surveillance cameras had not yielded.
Quote: DrawingDeadTOO LONG, DON'T READ - unless you drive to/from far places on the roads 'twixt NM & OK & KS
First, glad they got the deranged scumbag quickly. So congrats & thanks to the officers involved who found him snoozing by the highway in Vega & snatched him up; good work. So with that said:
I've unintentionally become kind of familiar with Vega & environs (NOT to be confused with Vegas) during a lot of road trips to & from my Mohave Desert home & some cities in the Midwest... (snip)
The whole thing made me think...clown shoes. They needed clown shoes for those drugs and money.
You may have thought TLDR, but I thought it was an outstanding post. Thanks.
I have done a large amount of LD driving myself, but think I was only through Vega perhaps once.
No.question they profile cars and drivers for who they stop in these places.
FWIW, (since Florida is a bit off your beaten path), you can't get stopped for going less than 10 miles over the speed limit on the interstates here, though they can stop you for something else and then write the speeding ticket on top of it. They've decided not to impede the flow of traffic and endanger their troopers for such a small infraction. Too bad Vega doesn't have a similar restriction.
Well then thanks, glad you were able to get something from it. My real reason for pause about going into all that was not wanting the description of an incident loosely connected to a side issue to trivialize this insane violent crime by implying any equivalence to my little roadside inconvenience several years ago.Quote: beachbumbabsYou may have thought TLDR, but I thought...<SNIPS>...
Trial date has been set.
Quote: FleaStiffWrobel entered plea of not guilty to the indictment, prosecutor announced death penalty will not be sought.
Trial date has been set.
I wonder why they won’ t go for the spike? Do they think he doesn’ t know that deliberately seeking out his former employers then gunning them down is wrong?
Death penalties are rarely sought by a prosecutor without an internal case review, a case review from a committee of other prosecutors, consultation with the family members and consultation with staff workload committees. Often a speedy and cheaper resolution is chosen even if others want a death penalty to be sought.Quote: AyecarumbaI wonder why they won’ t go for the spike? Do they think he doesn’ t know that deliberately seeking out his former employers then gunning them down is wrong?
On death row you get a cell to yourself, a private exercise period, relative peace and quiet, etc. while your appeal wends its way through the various hoops. If I were in the situation the victim's relatives are in, I would insist on a no-death penalty prosecution. That way he goes into the General Population. Then I'd contact the Aryan Brotherhood and make a deal with them for him to be declared Community Property in return for some review of various trial transcripts. Once he is Community Property no one, but absolutely no one, can offer him protection without having to answer to the Yard Boss of the Aryan Brotherhood. That means he spends his days on his knees and his nights on his stomach rather than being housed in safety on death row.Quote: FleaStiff. . . consultation with the family members and .......
The downside of that is that they could escape or somehow be released because "life without parole" doesn't always mean that.
This guy sounds like a good candidate for a tossed key.
I knew both Mia and Hector quite well. I did some consulting work for Sands back in April, 2016. Mia was great to work with, and helped me all along with my project. Mia was an outstandingly kind, talented and generous individual. One of the very best in the Sands organization. Rest in peace.
I had a few meetings with Hector as well during 2016 and we got along quite well. However, back in 2011 (maybe it was 2012), when I was a partner with Raving Consulting, I had a meeting set up for some possible work with the Venetian. Amy (from Raving) and I were supposed to meet Hector at 7PM one evening during G2E to discuss the possibilities. Quite simply, Hector stood us up. We then made another time to meet, which he later cancelled. He did not give a reason either time, as I recall. I was pretty pissed at him at the time. That said, no amount of being pissed ever justifies any kind of violence.
This is very sad news.
Quote: RonCI have become pragmatic about the death penalty. While I have no moral problem with it, and I am in favor of it, I am not sure it is worth the publicity the killer gets both during the trial. the cost of it compared to the cost of "throwing away the key," and the publicity the person gets at the time of execution. I'd rather have them convicted and sentenced to life without parole in the worst prison available. Then they just disappear for the most part.
Not only this, but there have been hundreds of death row inmates exonerated.
The justice system gets things wrong all the time. Anyone who supports the death penalty is saying that there’s an acceptable number of innocent American Citizens getting executed by their government. Taking that viewpoint lowers you to the level of the murderers you want to see put down.
No, its just a realization that we do not live in a perfect world and all wardens who pull the switch on someone while carrying out a warrant of execution know that some of the men are indeed innocent of the crime for which they were convicted. Buildings fall down, bridges collapse, ships sink, brakes fail, etc. We don't stop the world because it is imperfect.Quote: gamerfreakTaking that viewpoint lowers you to the level of the murderers you want to see put down.
