Hollywood Casino York Suspect Who Pocketed $1,200 Still Unknown, Police Seek Help

Posted on: November 10, 2022, 09:13h. 

Last updated on: November 11, 2022, 11:52h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

UPDATE (Nov. 11): The person of interest has been identified and charged.

Pennsylvania State Police are requesting the public’s assistance in identifying and locating a suspect who allegedly stole more than $1,200 in cash last month from Hollywood Casino York.

Law enforcement says on October 12, around 7 p.m. EST, a victim reported to casino security that he accidentally left $1,226 in cash at a sports betting kiosk. Hollywood Casino York features a Barstool Sportsbook with a staffed counter and standalone sports betting kiosks.

The victim claimed he left an envelope full of cash on one of the kiosks. But when he returned to retrieve his money, it was gone.

Casino surveillance video footage observed an unidentified male wearing a green T-shirt, tan shorts, and eyeglasses as the man suspected of pocketing the cash. The person of interest was later caught on camera leaving the casino in a newer model Honda Accord or Honda Insight.

Civic Duty to Turn in Money

The proverb “finders keepers, losers weepers” doesn’t hold weight in Pennsylvania court. Pennsylvania, like most other states, legally requires that an individual who comes into possession of mislaid property or items of value do his or her best to locate the rightful owner or make arrangements for the items to be returned.

When someone doesn’t take those steps, the person risks facing charges of “theft of mislaid property.”

A person who comes into control of property of another that he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the nature or amount of the property or the identity of the recipient is guilty of theft if, with intent to deprive the owner thereof, he fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to a person entitled to have it,” Pennsylvania’s criminal code mandates.

Since the value of the items stolen in this instance is less than $2,000, the unidentified man would likely be subject to a first-degree misdemeanor, “theft of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake.”

If the victim had left more than $2,000 in cash on the kiosk, and the unidentified man would have left the casino with it, a felony charge would have been on the table. First-degree theft misdemeanors still carry a possible maximum prison sentence of up to five years and a $10K fine.

Pennsylvania Pickpockets

Last month, Pennsylvania police arrested a 90-year-old woman for stealing money at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh in a similar mislaid theft incident. Law enforcement alleges that Norma Buchwach, 90, of Pittsburgh, pocketed another gambler’s money after the victim accidentally left their wallet containing about $1,000 in cash and a $300 voucher on a slot machine.

Surveillance video captured Buchwach rummaging through the wallet and taking the cash and voucher before discarding the wallet in a restroom trashcan. Buchwach is due in court on December 7 for her preliminary hearing, where she’ll face a first-degree misdemeanor theft of mislaid property charge.