LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on a smash-and-grab robbery early Saturday at a luxury watch and jewelry store at the Bellagio casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip (all times local):
12:22 p.m.
Authorities say they’re checking a 20-year-old man’s claim that he was brought from Mexico City to Las Vegas to serve as the pig-masked lookout for a weekend smash-and-grab burglary at a casino jewelry store.
Sebastian Gonzalez appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge to set an April 11 probable cause hearing on felony conspiracy, burglary, robbery and theft charges.
The judge says he won’t set bail until he knows Gonzalez’s citizenship.
Gonzalez was arrested but three other men escaped after the 1 a.m. Saturday sledgehammer break-in at the Tesorini store at the Bellagio resort.
Gonzalez told police that people threatened to harm his family if he didn’t take part in the heist.
He says the getaway plan was to take a bus to San Diego or nearby Tijuana, Mexico, with millions of dollars’ worth of loot.
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10 a.m.
Questions were raised in court Wednesday about the background and citizenship of a 20-year-old man arrested in a casino parking structure and accused of wearing a pig mask while acting as lookout in a weekend smash-and-grab burglary at a Las Vegas Strip jewelry store.
Sebastian Gonzalez appeared before a judge with a Spanish-language interpreter and court-appointed attorneys to face felony conspiracy, burglary, robbery and theft charges.
Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman set an April 11 probable cause hearing and said he won’t set bail until he knows Gonzalez’s citizenship.
Prosecutor John Giordani said outside court that Gonzalez may be from Mexico or from Southern California.
Giordani noted that police are seeking three other male suspects who got away following the 1 a.m. Saturday sledgehammer break-in at the Tesorini store.
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