Security technician sought in San Jacinto casino robbery

Rolando L. Ramos

By Phil Willon
Times Staff Writer

12:46 PM PDT, August 2, 2007

Armed with a handgun and pepper spray, a security technician at the Soboba Casino in Riverside County this morning broke into the casino's vaults, hogtied four employees with duct tape and then escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash, authorities said.

Riverside County sheriff's officials identified the suspect as Rolando L. Ramos of Hemet, saying he has worked at the San Jacinto-area casino for two years maintaining the casino's video surveillance cameras.

"No shots were fired and no casino guests were injured," said Assistant Sheriff Pat McManus. "I don't think [the guests] were even aware of what was going on until the doors were locked down."

McManus said Ramos was wearing his casino uniform and identification badge when he allegedly pulled off the heist, and several of the people he bound and gagged — and locked in the vaults — recognized him.

As a security technician, Ramos was familiar with the casino's security systems and how to gain access to the vaults, McManus said.

"We do know that he tried to destroy some of the surveillance equipment in some of the surveillance rooms, but he didn't get everything," McManus said.

The Sheriff's Department received the first 911 call about the robbery at 5:24 a.m., and deputies arrived at the casino at 2333 Soboba Road at 5:29 a.m. Ramos' car was found several blocks away.

Ramos apparently hid the handgun, pepper spray and the duct tape in a tool belt when he entered the secure vault room, McManus said. At gunpoint, he bound and gagged at least four employees, pepper-spraying one. Three employees were found in one vault, and one was found in a separate vault, authorities said.

Investigators said, at this point, it is unclear whether Ramos had an accomplice.

"We consider him armed and dangerous," McManus said.

Ramos apparently was born in the Philippines and has family both there and in Mexico. Investigators already have checked his home in Hemet and his girlfriend's home, McManus said.

Representatives of the Soboba Casino declined to comment about the robbery.