Police are said to be closing in on Montego Bay bandit Tony Vera according to sources close to the investigation and according to those same sources federal law enforcement officers may have been called in to help capture the man.
Vera with accomplice Elbert Woodson pulled off a brazen robbery of the Montego Bay Casino almost four weeks ago.
While Woodson was captured within hours after a high speed chase on I-80 and subsequent crash in rural Herriman, Utah, Vera who jumped out of the vehicle sometime during the chase is still at large.
That might not be for long, according to sources. Law enforcement are said to have identified several locations and/or people Vera could be hiding with, presumably in the Salt Lake City area.
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.
It is unknown just how much money Vera made away with although the sum is probably larger perhaps much larger the the “greater than $650” amount originally released by law enforcement. The $650 mark permits the theft to be charged as a felony.
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. That source was later identified as a woman who for unknown reasons was traveling in the get away vehicle and was allowed to leave shortly after the chase began around the Grantsville exit by the UHP.
“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 at the time 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 press release last week. “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.”
The fact that the woman has not yet been charged coupled with the information that federal law enforcement has been called in on the case could indicate that in addition to the robbery charges facing Vera and Woodson there may be an additional charge of kidnapping.
Kidnapping across state lines is a federal crime with a possible penalty of life in prison. While it is still unclear of the woman’s role in the robbery the threat of a life term could be used to elicit information from Woodson.
So far however sources tell the Advocate, Woodson isn’t talking.
“So far he hasn’t given anything up,” said one law enforcement officer on the condition of anonymity.
