In Alabama, a federal judge has reportedly dismissed all charges against one man while denying bond to a second after the pair were arrested last week and accused of stealing almost $200,000 in cash from the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel Montgomery.
Two cash kiosks accessed:
According to a Friday report from the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper, Jory D’Michael Travunn Dumas and Timothy Dean Pettiway were detained by police on August 14 after they allegedly robbed $192,800 from a pair of?cash kiosks located inside the tribal casino four days earlier.
The newspaper reported that Dumas is the nephew of Pettiway and had previously worked at the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel Montgomery until being fired last year amid theft allegations. He was arrested on Tuesday after being incorrectly identified as the man who had accessed the kiosks utilizing keys that had been left atop a machine inside the Montgomery County casino.
FBI review identifies main perpetrator:
However, the Montgomery Advertiser reported that a review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) subsequently determined that Pettiway had taken the keys before removing two boxes from the kiosks containing $100 bills. He later is alleged to have taken the containers to a restroom where Dumas was known to be before exiting the property some 15 minutes later.
Despite escaping prosecution, Dumas was advised by United States Magistrate Judge, Gray Borden, on Friday that he still faces the prospect of being indicted by a future grand jury on different charges.
Video surveillance yields results:
The United States Attorney’s Office used video surveillance footage from multiple security cameras to established probable cause against Pettiway. FBI Special Agent, Matthew Minshew, testified that casino employee, Courtney Stanton, had left the keys unattended after appearing to speak with an unidentified person for some time.
The newspaper reported that the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel Montgomery is owned by the federally-recognized Poarch Creek Indians and that Stanton had later reported the loss of the keys to a supervisor. This prompted a search by the property’s security staff that had later turned up two empty cash boxes inside one of its handicapped toilet stalls.
The Montgomery Advertiser additionally reported that prosecutors alleged that Pettiway had been wearing black clothes similar to the uniform worn by kiosk attendants at the time of the heist.
Magistrate Judge cites ‘substantial’ criminal history:
In denying Pettiway’s bond, Magistrate Judge Borden cited a ‘substantial’ criminal history that spanned decades alongside the fact that none of the stolen cash had yet been recovered.
Magistrate Judge Borden reportedly declared…
“The cash has not been recovered. A person with access to that much cash would have a reasonable opportunity to flee.”
For its part, the Poarch Creek Indians, which also runs Wind Creek-branded casinos in the Alabama communities of Wetumpka and Atmore, declined to comment on the case and referred all inquiries to the FBI.