Casino heist foiled by girlfriend who tipped off deputies
A girlfriend tipped off deputies that her gangster boyfriend robbed the Golden West Casino and was planning another heist that was going to be “the same as last time,” according to court documents.
New details emerged Tuesday about the five Los Angeles Crips gang members arrested for trying to rob the casino last week and the armed robbery of the casino last fall.
One of the suspects, Jajuan Bell, has robbed several casinos before and was even acquitted for a casino robbery in Nevada, according to court documents.
Bell’s girlfriend told investigators that he had asked if he could stay at her home in Palmdale the day before the first Golden West Casino robbery, according to court documents. He is the father of her child.
Bell, who is a gang member from Compton, said he “had something to do out there,” court documents said.
On Sept. 13, The Golden West Casino at 1101 South Union Avenue was robbed when suspects armed with guns stormed the casino. They made off with about $60,000 and cell phones of people at the casino and escaped in a red Pontiac Grand Am.
Later that day, Bell and his friends were at his girlfriend’s home and counting money, according to court documents.
When Bell left he gave his girlfriend about $1,500 and a bag to discard, she said. Bell later gave her another $1,000.
The girlfriend looked into the bag and found clothing, ammunition, money bags, money wrappers and a cell phone.
The money bags had the words, “dice and cards,” designed on them.
The girlfriend called a number on the cell phone and learned the Golden West Casino was robbed, the court documents said. She then called the casino and talked to detectives.
She told them that Bell said he previously robbed casinos. The girlfriend said Bell robbed Diamond Jim’s Casino in Rosamond in 2002 and 2006 , according to court documents.
Bell was also arrested in 2000 for a casino robbery in Nevada, a detective said in the court documents. He was acquitted of robbery because the casino did not want to reveal how much was stolen, according to the detective.
The girlfriend said he even asked her to be a getaway driver, court documents said. He also asked one of her business clients to be a getaway driver, the girlfriend said.
The girlfriend provided detectives with Bell’s phone numbers.
Detectives wiretapped Bell and several suspects’ phones and overheard them talking about robbing the Golden West Casino and what type of weapons they would bring, according to court documents.
On March 31, deputies stopped the men on their way to the casino, using spike strips on Highway 58 near Towerline Road. Deputies seized an AK-47 and 12-gauge shotguns from the suspects’ vehicle.
Bell, 29, Lynel Travon Lewis, 31; Michael Paul Johnson, 23; John Fitzgerald Williams, 19; and Don Lavell Joseph, 24, were arrested and charged with attempted robbery. Other charges included participation in a criminal street gang and conspiring to commit a crime.
A detective told the girlfriend he would contact the victim/witness program to help her, court documents said.
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