Wave of brazen attacks sounds alarm at casino

Delaware crime: Wave of brazen attacks sounds alarm at casino
Officials worry robberies might scare away customers
By CRIS BARRISH, The News Journal

Jacob Orbon, a robust former steel plant manager, used to think nothing of parking at Delaware Park's football-field-sized lot and strolling into the casino to relax and play poker.

Not anymore.

Three recent robberies, including one inside a casino restroom, plus other similar crimes at the Stanton-area gambling hall during the last year have made Orbon venture there in what he calls "fear and trepidation."

Now he uses valet parking at the facility and keeps an eye out for suspicious people while hoping the the casino will improve security.

"The robberies are going to continue," said Orbon, who lives in Kennett Square, Pa. "It's much easier for a nefarious individual to knock me over at age 81 than it is to rob a gasoline station."

The recent attacks were brazen. A man with a box cutter robbed two female employees of their purses in the parking lot March 20. A woman hit a 76-year-old woman in a restroom and stole her wallet April 4. Two days later, a man threw an 85-year-old customer to the ground in the lot and took his wallet. Police made arrests in the first two robberies.

While all three Delaware casinos have the occasional fight, theft or robbery, state gaming enforcement officials are alarmed by the recent spate of violence at Delaware Park, whose casino also had a rape in 2007. Officials are concerned customers might start avoiding one of Delaware's cash cows -- the casino generated more than $103 million in revenue for the state in 2010 -- more than Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway.

Kelly said state troopers in his unit, who work undercover, won't be patrolling the lots at Delaware Park or any casino. They investigate fraud and cheating complaints and crimes inside the casinos after they occur. For the parking lots, his office is encouraging Delaware Park to hire off-duty troopers, who often work at sporting events and other private affairs, and to add security patrols.

State troopers based at nearby Prices Corner have been told to take a few spins in their marked cruisers around the casino and horse-racing track's three lots during each shift.

"We want to heighten the visibility," Sgt. Paul G. Shavack, a state police spokesman, said of police presence.

Delaware Park President Bill Fasy insists the recent crimes are isolated and that their customers, whom he calls an "older crowd," shouldn't be worried. About 8,000 gamblers visit the casino daily, he said.

"I can't control somebody that comes in and might be drinking, might be having a bad day and wants to take it out on somebody and are unscrupulous and wants to rob somebody," Fasy said.

The casino hasn't hired off-duty cops, but Fasy said security guards in yellow vests are now patrolling the three parking lots on foot to support guards who drive around in vehicles. The casino also provides security escorts to customers requesting one, he said.

Crime reports not compiled

Whether Delaware Park has more violence than Dover Downs or Harrington cannot be determined because state officials do not compile those statistics.

The nearly year-old gaming enforcement division, which has nine state troopers for all the casinos, tracks crimes such as thefts, cheating and underage gambling, but does not investigate assaults or robberies unless they occur on the casino floor. For example, a fight at a casino nightclub or the attack in the restroom is reported to security, which calls the police.

And though by law the state Lottery Office, which regulates the racetrack casinos, must compile an annual report of crime at the casinos and in surrounding communities, the state has failed to produce a report since 2007. Those reports, however, do not specify which crimes occurred on casino grounds.

State finance director Tom Cook, whose office oversees lotteries, said he takes responsibility for not having the reports done.

"They should have gotten done by now," said Cook, an appointee of Gov. Jack Markell, who took office in January 2009.

"It wasn't done because they didn't want to do them or we were trying to circumvent the law. But we went through the transition of new games and a new administration. It got lost, but we're going to correct it."

Fasy said Delaware Park tracks crimes on its property, but he would not provide an accounting to The News Journal.

The recent violence at Delaware Park has been reported to the media by police outlets, while no incidents have been reported about Dover Downs or Harrington this year.

Edward J. Sutor, president at Dover Downs, said his casino has had robberies and other incidents in its parking lot, but none this year. Patti J. Key, chief executive at Harrington, did not return calls for this story.

Sutor, who called the recent violence at Delaware Park "a shame," said Delaware casinos are fortunate they don't have the volume of crime that occurs in Atlantic City, where he worked for several years.

"Atlantic City is a very urban environment and the characters who come off the boardwalk are incredible. At Caesars, we had plainclothes 'Flea Patrols' to keep out the unsavory people, the fleas, who preyed upon our customers. Fortunately, we don't have that problem here in Dover. We're not near high-traffic pedestrian traffic areas."

'They need more security'

John Wysocki, 83, who lives in Upland, Pa., and plays the slots "once or twice a month" at Delaware Park, learned about the attacks from a reporter.

"It happens at every casino," Wysocki said. "Some years ago, I was at the Tropicana [in Atlantic City] and my car was broken into in the parking lot. It concerns me that it's happening here, but I'm not worried."

A middle-aged woman from Bear who would not identify herself said she knew there had been attacks. "They do need more security around here," she said, surveying the vast lot. "I don't like the idea that people could follow you out and pick you off. That's awful."

Orbon said he's complained about the attacks and what he perceives as a lack of security to dealers, who downplayed the incidents and said the media had exaggerated them.

"I would rate the security as poor," he said. "They need more security in the parking lot."