BLACK HAWK, Colo. — Investigators have arrested a second suspect in connection with a $500,000 casino theft -- Colorado's largest heist -- in Black Hawk earlier this year.
Juan Gutierrez-Zambrano, 31, was charged on May 2 with theft of $100,000 to $1 million, according to court documents. His bond was set at $525,000.
The theft happened early in the morning of March 12, just as Daylight Saving Time began. Investigators said a cashier, Sabrina Eddy, took 10 bricks of $50,000 each from the vault of the Monarch Casino.
Her affidavit said she packed the money into boxes, placed rags on top of it, sealed the boxes shut and left the casino parking garage in her minivan.
Eddy initially insisted she did nothing wrong and said she someone she thought was a casino boss ordered her to take out the cash, which she made two separate trips to deliver to someone in the parking lot of St. Anthony's Hospital in Lakewood.
She said the person she thought was a casino boss told her if she didn't bring the money to an "attorney" in the hospital parking lot, the casino would be "in breach of contract."
Eddy was booked into jail on March 12 and has since been released on a personal recognizance bond. She also faces a charge of theft of $100,000 to $1 million. She told a reporter she had "no comment" at a court appearance Monday.
According to an arrest affidavit for Gutierrez-Zambrano, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation believes he was the person who took the cash from Eddy in the parking lot of the hospital.
The affidavit says that during the initial investigation, Eddy twice told investigators that the person she met for the first handoff was in a silver Chevrolet Avalanche, but surveillance video showed the car was a black Trailblazer. Due to this discrepancy, investigators interviewed her a third time, and gave her a polygraph test.
Investigators determined "deception was indicated" on the polygraph, and after some additional questioning, Eddy "finally broke down and began crying and provided an entirely different account of what occurred with the theft," the affidavit says.
According to the affidavit, Eddy told investigators that "unknown associates of her deceased former husband had contacted her and forced her to engage in the theft after levying threats against her family members by email and on phone calls."
Investigators used traffic cameras, vehicle registration, cell phone records and an oil change receipt to connect Gutierrez-Zambrano to the case, according to the affidavit. It said investigators did not find the money in a search of his home.
The theft is the largest casino heist on record in Colorado since legal gaming began in 1991. It was initially under investigation by the Division of Gaming, but a spokesperson said the CBI has since taken over the case.
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