Police: Male Hard Rock Hollywood Gambler Drugged by Two Women, Victim Burglarized

Posted on: October 17, 2019, 04:00h. 

Last updated on: October 17, 2019, 11:12h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Police say Hard Rock Hollywood in Florida was the site of a crime last month that allegedly involved a male gambler being drugged and burglarized by two women who remain at large.

Hard Rock Hollywood casino crime theft
Police want to meet with these two women, who they believe slipped something into a male gambler’s drink at the Hard Rock Hollywood casino in Florida. (Image: Broward County Sherriff’s Office)

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office issued a release this week seeking the public’s help in identifying the two women caught on casino surveillance video. The footage reveals two women conversing with the same man at a three-card poker table, and later at a slot machine.

The video shows the women – one with black hair and another with blonde hair, both thought to be between the ages of 35 and 45 – putting an unknown substance into a drink before handing it to the victim.

The man told police he “felt drugged and had difficulty moving” almost immediately after drinking the beverage. They helped escort him to a vehicle outside and accommodated him to his nearby hotel. When he woke, he told police he was missing his Rolex watch, with an estimated value of $15,000, plus $1,000 in cash.

Hard Rock Hollywood will open its guitar-shaped hotel tower on October 24. The $1.5 billion expansion to the Seminole Tribe resort adds 638 guestrooms, a new spa, private lagoons, retail shopping, and a 13.5-acre pool.

Gambler Potentially Roofied

Police don’t know what type of intoxicant the women allegedly slipped into the man’s drink. The man is seen drinking at the poker table and slot machine.

The drug could be Flunitrazepam, a benzodiazepine used in some countries to treat severe insomnia or assist with anesthesia. In the US, it’s illegal – and commonly referred to as a “date-rape drug,” aka “roofie.”

Following the exposure of Las Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn’s alleged sexual misconduct in January of 2018, a woman named Brittney Lewis came forward with claims that Sin City staple David Copperfield roofied her and sexual assaulted her in 1988 when she was just 17 years old. The magician denied the allegations.

The #MeToo movement also took down Las Vegas’ largest casino tycoon, as well as one of the area’s most prominent chefs.

Mario Batali’s three Strip restaurants were stripped from Sands’ Venetian and Palazzo resorts following new allegations that he drugged female workers and sexually assaulted them. Batali later said his “past behavior has been deeply inappropriate,” but denies criminal wrongdoing.

Female Crime

What makes the Hard Rock Hollywood alleged drugging and burglary unique is that it comes at the hands of women — not men.

According to the US Department of Justice, of the more than 10.55 million people who were arrested in 2017 — just 27 percent, or 2.85 million — were females.

The Florida female suspects aren’t alone in allegedly carrying out a crime in a US casino this year.

On August 31, an elderly woman died after being assaulted by two women at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in California. Police arrested two female suspects, one being the sister of NBA All-Star and 2019 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Leonard was not involved in the incident.