West Wendover Police Chief Burdel Welsh confirmed there was a third person, a woman, involved in the robbery of Montego Bay Casino two weeks ago but just what role did she play is currently not known.
According to West Wendover Police reports Anthony Vera wearing either face paint or a mask approached the Montego Bay’s cashier’s cage two weeks ago Wednesday, jumped the counter, grabbed a cash box and fled the casino with an undetermined amount of cash. It is unknown whether Vera was armed at the time.
According to sources close to the investigation the robbery may have been an inside job. The photo used by police in their wanted poster comes from the files of casino workers and that Vera’s identity was provided from an unnamed source who was either involved in the crime or who had knowledge of it.
Vera had his first piece of luck by not being accosted either during or after the robbery.
He waltzed out of the casino jumped into the waiting car driven by Elbert Woodson. According to Welsh the woman was either in the car before the heist or was picked up in the parking lot as the two made their getaway.
The bandits second stroke of luck cam when for unknown reasons neither the UHP trooper nor the Tooele County Sheriff’s Deputy normally on duty in Wendover gave chase to the fleeing robbers. The robbery was called into the West Wendover Police dispatch almost immediately after Vera fled the scene said West Wendover Police Chief Burdel Welsh, and as matter of course was immediately relayed to Tooele Dispatch for the Utah agencies.
Instead it would be another hour and more than 80 miles east of Wendover that the two men came under pursuit from a UHP trooper near Grantsville.
According to sources close to the investigation that trooper may not have even been aware the car he was chasing was involved in the Montego Bay robbery or even that the robbery occurred.
“About 12:30 a.m., one of our troopers located the vehicle traveling on I-80 [just west of Tooele] and attempted to make a stop. A high-speed pursuit ensued into Salt Lake County,” said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce.
“The suspect vehicle continued toward the Salt Lake Valley and one person exited the vehicle near Bangerter Highway, south of Salt Lake City International Airport. The person exiting was later identified as an adult female.” Welsh wrote in a Wednesday press release. “She was later interviewed by, investigators from the West Wendover Police Department, and the State of Utah Department of Public Safety and the State Bureau of Investigation Division. The female’s identity is being withheld, pending prosecutor’s review of the case. The female is currently listed a as witness. Ongoing investigation may determine if she was a party to the criminal activity.”
According to Welsh it was the woman who first identified Vera as the robber perhaps even before Woodson was captured after his vehicle crashed 20 miles down the road in Herriman, Utah.
After the woman left the vehicle, the chase continued along Bangerter Highway and reached speeds in excess of 100 mph. During the pursuit, it is believed that another suspect, identified as Anthony Matthew Vera, got out of the car, and avoided arrest.
The driver, who UHP identified as 38-year-old Elbert Arnaz Woodson Jr., continued south on Bangerter Highway and through a quiet Herriman neighborhood near 7000 West 13400 South. The vehicle later hit telephone and utility poles, became airborne over the fence, where Woodson was taken into custody.
Arrest Warrants from the State of Nevada were issued for Anthony Matthew Vera and Elbert Arnaz Woodson Jr. Elbert Arnaz Woodson Jr. is currently being held in the Tooele County Detention Center.
Before the robbery Woodson had been out on his own recognizance awaiting trial for cheating at gambling.
In the 75 year history of Wendover gaming no casino robber ever escaped for more than an hour let alone the two weeks Vera has been on the lam.