He was a Las Vegas cop drowning in debt. Then he nearly scored 3 casino heists, police say.

LAS VEGAS — The armed man limped through the casino’s west exit, a security guard trailing close behind.

Past the doors, under a dawning Las Vegas sky, the guard tackled the suspected robber to the ground. The two wrestled in the casino driveway, and more guards arrived.

Outnumbered, the man drew a silver and black .375 caliber Ruger revolver, its serial number covered by a yellow sticker.

“Are you willing to be shot over this?” he yelled to the growing cadre of security guards. “I’m going to shoot!”

One of the guards moved toward the suspect and wrenched away the weapon. There would be no gunfire that morning.

Police were on the way.

In an 11-page criminal complaint based on security footage and witness statements, FBI Special Agent Zachary Franklin laid out with great detail how that suspected robber nearly pulled off a casino heist trifecta: $73,810 from the Red Rock Resort and Casino in November; $11,500 from the Aliante in North Las Vegas two months later; and, had he succeeded in that Sunday morning robbery in February, $78,898 from the Rio hotel-casino.

But other court filings obtained by the Reno Gazette Journal of the Paste BN Network – including a divorce petition, eviction paperwork and a small claims complaint – paint a picture of the man thought to be behind the robberies. A man drowning in debts he’d accumulated in the years leading up to the heists.

Together, the documents outline the path that led an unlikely suspect to become an accused robber.

Facing a life sentence

When officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrived at the Rio on Feb. 27, the suspected thief had no wallet, no ID, no cellphone. 

But an ID wasn't necessary.

"Rogers," he told police, according to the complaint. “P No. 15666."

“P number” is cop lingo for "personnel number." LVMPD assigns them to rank-and-file, “a way police officers commonly identify themselves to one another,” Franklin, the FBI agent, explained in the complaint.

That particular identifier – No. 15666 – is assigned to Caleb Mitchell Rogers, a 33-year-old patrol officer who joined the force in 2015, LVMPD employment records show.

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Federal prosecutors in Nevada have charged Rogers with two felonies: interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a violent crime. If convicted, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, the robbery charge could send the officer to prison for a maximum of two decades. The weapons charge could carry a sentence of life in prison.

At the time of his alleged crimes, Rogers was employed as an active duty police officer. He is on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the case.

Rogers’ attorney, Raquel Lazo, did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

‘This isn’t your money!’

On the morning of the final robbery, the suspect parked an unregistered blue Chevrolet Ventura minivan in the Rio garage.

Four minutes before 7 a.m., according to the complaint, he entered the casino, wearing a blue face mask, black latex gloves and body armor underneath his dark clothing.

Hands stuffed in his pockets “the entire time,” he walked straight to the Rio’s newly remodeled Caesars Race & Sportsbook.

There, two cashiers prepared for a busy day. That Sunday would feature eight football games and eight hockey matchups. The sportsbook was scheduled to open in an hour.

As they loaded money from a plastic bag into the registers, the complaint said, a man climbed over the counter, shoved one of the employees to the floor and yelled for them to “get away from the money!”

The plastic bag held $119,000.

“I’ve got a gun,” he said, according to the complaint. “I will shoot you!”

Investigators would later learn that gun was a police-issued weapon.

Frantically, the suspect scooped bundles of money from the registers, placing the cash into a black drawstring bag hidden inside his jacket.

"This isn't your money," he yelled. "It's not worth losing your life over it!"

In the chaos of his scramble for cash, loose bills fell to the casino floor.

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Scared stiff, the cashiers "did not directly interfere," according to the complaint.

Instead, they quietly triggered the robbery alarms.

Struggling to run through the casino “because of a problem with his leg," the suspect tried to make it to his minivan in the garage before security found him.

By then, police documents show, authorities in Southern Nevada had already been searching for Rogers for nearly two months.

They just didn’t know it.

The modus operandi

In each casino heist, the complaint said, the suspect was careful to protect his identity.

Face covered with a mask. Fingerprints concealed by black latex gloves. And, in at least one instance, a car cloaked in trash bags.

“The modus operandi," Franklin wrote, "was essentially the same."

But the way he walked betrayed him – left foot and leg kicking outwardly with every step.

Before the final robbery, the complaint said, authorities knew only these details about the suspect: He was the man who “walked with a unique gait” and who had a tendency to target casinos.

Though scarce, the similarities would help authorities link the crimes not long after the second robbery – on Jan. 6 – at the Aliante hotel-casino in North Las Vegas.

Before the day’s end, LVMPD, in coordination with the North Las Vegas Police Department, would release to the public a description of the wanted man with a set of security camera photos: “White or Hispanic Male Adult, Medium Build, Approximately 5’8” to 5’10” tall, wearing a dark hoodie, jeans and dark shoes.”

What came of the cash taken during the first two robberies is unclear. In those heists, the complaint said, Rogers netted a total of $85,310 – about $10,000 more than his base pay in 2020, according to Nevada government salary records.

Following his arrest, investigators searched his apartment in the far northwest Las Vegas Valley, about 20 miles from the Strip.

Evidence collected, according to the complaint, included items consistent with the descriptions of the robberies: Black latex gloves and paperwork related to a 2019 knee injury.

But they also found evidence that pointed to a likely motive: “Eviction paperwork, past-due notices, and demand letters.”

Red ink

Five days after Valentine’s Day 2020, Rogers and his wife of 10 years filed a joint petition for divorce in Clark County, records show.

They married in August 2010 in Greenville, South Carolina. But their marriage would end in Las Vegas.

Court filings related to the divorce do not detail why the marriage ended. Their divorce was finalized a month after they filed.

But the petition offers insight into the couple’s financials at the time.

Rogers ran out of lines answering how they plan to split their debts. He listed the following as his responsibility: Two credit card accounts, two outstanding payments to separate payday loan companies, money owed from a 2019 eviction, and unpaid loans from two personal lenders.

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Rogers failed to pay rent on his North Las Vegas apartment, court records show, and he was evicted. He owed nearly $14,000 to one of the personal lenders. He agreed to pay $700 in monthly child support after the divorce was finalized.

Authorities have released few details about Rogers aside from his employment, and public records reveal little about the officer’s life before his arrest.

Rogers, who will turn 34 in May, is the father of a young boy, according to the divorce filing. The officer is likely to still be in custody in June when his son celebrates his fifth birthday.

No bail as judge cites substantial risk

Earlier this month, U.S. Judge Nancy Koppe ordered Rogers held without bail pending trial during his initial federal court appearance in Las Vegas.

In her ruling, the judge said Rogers “poses a substantial risk of nonappearance and a danger to the community,” citing the officer’s lack of stable housing or employment.

He is scheduled to return to court Thursday for a preliminary examination of the case.

Had he escaped from the security guards last month, he would have netted about $165,000 –nearly three times the median average income in Las Vegas.

On the day of his arrest, Franklin wrote in the complaint, a detective asked the officer what could have been done to prevent the robberies.

“Nothing,” he said.

Rio Lacanlale is the Las Vegas correspondent for the Reno Gazette Journal and the Paste BN Network. Contact her at rlacanlale@gannett.com or on Twitter @riolacanlale.