Man turns himself in 2 years after Primm casino heist

Two years ago, Dell Eugene Warfield III told his best friend he would not be seeing him again.

Less than two hours later, police said, Warfield walked into the William Hill Race & Sports Book Primm Valley Resort and Casino in Stateline where he worked, carrying a black bag stuffed with $5,307 in mostly small notes.

He wasn’t scheduled to work the night of Jan. 26, 2013, but he was wearing his work uniform.

Another employee, Aron Blackwell, told police that she noticed Warfield at a safe in the casino cage and “he appeared sweaty and nervous.”

Warfield struggled to open the safe, entering the wrong code twice, according to a police report.

“If he messed up one more time, the alarm would sound,” Blackwell told police. “He joked with her that if the alarm went off, she did not see him.”

Warfield eventually opened the safe without sounding an alarm, exchanging the cash he brought for $164,693 and disappeared, police said.

Now, after turning himself in to police exactly two years to the date of the brazen heist, the 24-year-old Warfield is due in court this week on charges of burglary and theft.

It’s unclear why Warfield decided to turn himself in, where he was hiding or how much of the cash is left.

Police declined to elaborate on the details of his arrest, and his lawyer Kyle Cottner, with the Clark County Public Defender’s Office, could not be reached for comment. Warfield is being held in the Clark County Detention Center.

Warfield apparently tried to cover his tracks at the casino — or at least buy himself a little time — but police quickly identified him as a suspect. After all, he was caught on surveillance video the night of the heist and changed clothes shortly after he left the casino cage, police said.

Detectives reviewed the video that showed Warfield kneeling next to the safe, trying to punch in the code. After the second attempt, the video showed Warfield stand up and speak with another employee.

A few minutes after midnight, he knelt back down, popped the safe open and started exchanging 10 bundles of bills, according to the report. The plastic-wrapped bundles Warfield brought to the casino that day were topped with $100 bills, but were filled out with singles.

Authorities allege he forged the signatures of two other employees to make it appear as though someone else opened the safe and to create the illusion that the theft occurred before the phony cash drop.

“When other employees did cash drops they would see evidence of cash drops already in the safe,” the police report stated.

But while he signed the names of his colleagues, he used wrong employee identification numbers.

Surveillance video showed Warfield walking out of the casino wearing a sweatshirt and shorts, not his work uniform.

“Warfield throws the bag used at the cage on the ground and exits with a full shopping bag,” police said.

Later, he sent a text message to his father, saying he “got caught up,” was on the run and “he will not be hearing from him again,” according to the police report.

At 5:31 a.m. on Jan. 27, Warfield turned off his phone.

His father, who lived in Apple Valley, Calif. at the time, told police he was “extremely concerned for his son’s well-being.”

Warfield was scheduled to work at 7 a.m., but never showed up.

The last reported location on an iPhone tracking device had shown Warfield at a truck stop in northern Utah.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker