Feds think M Resort robbery suspect tied to 2 other thefts

Federal authorities suspect a man charged with robbing the M Resort of $38,904 at gunpoint also was involved in two other thefts, including a "smash and grab" at the South Point casino.

Damir Vucic, 35, who is in federal custody, is to appear Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach on robbery and firearms charges in the Sept. 25 M Resort robbery.

The Bosnian-born Vucic has not been charged with any other thefts, but an FBI complaint filed late last month ties him to a Sept. 1 "smash and grab" burglary at the South Point and a Sept. 8 break-in at a Sam's Club in which more than $160,000 in jewelry was stolen.

On Oct. 3 Vucic was arrested by FBI agents in the M Resort robbery on the New York side of Niagara Falls near the Canadian border. He had flown to Buffalo two days after the heist.

According to the FBI complaint, the suspect was armed with a handgun and wearing a black or dark gray hoodie and a black face mask when he pulled off the robbery at the casino cage.

He yelled at the cashier to put the money, "all of it," in a white trash bag with drawstrings, and when the cashier said she had no more money, he responded, "OK, thanks sweetie."

As he ran out of the south entrance with the $38,904, the complaint states, the suspect pointed a gun at a woman and yelled, "What do you see?" She responded "no, nothing," and he yelled back, "That's what I thought bitch."

A woman staying at Vucic's apartment told FBI agents that on the morning of the robbery Vucic woke her up and showed her "stacks of money" on the floor of his apartment and said he had robbed the M Resort.

Authorities believe the same vehicle used in the M Resort caper was used in the South Point burglary, according to the complaint.

FBI agents searched the apartment of Vucic's ex-wife with her consent and found $21,800 in cash and $131,340 in jewelry in a safe, the complaint alleges. Agents learned the jewelry was from the Sam's Club burglary.

Vucic faces state charges in the M Resort robbery, but those likely will be dropped now that federal authorities have charged him.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ