...addiction has destroyed his life...

Armored Car Company Worker Confesses To Stealing $50K
Shane Marquardt Says He Gambled Money Away At Blackhawk
Jaclyn Allen, 7NEWS Reporter

AURORA, Colo. -- A vault worker at an Aurora armored car company said he took $50,000, but his plan to gamble with it, keep the winnings and return the cash backfired.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” said Shane Marquardt, 23, of Lakewood. “I thought I needed it more than they did, and now I’m paying the price.”

For the past two years, Marquardt said, he had been a model employee for Loomis Armored in Aurora, working as a vault manager.


He said the company had no idea his gambling addiction had gotten out of control, and that he was about to lose everything.

Marquardt spoke to 7NEWS reporter Jaclyn Allen from inside the Adams County Jail, where he said he has plenty of time to think about how he got there.

On Thursday, Feb. 9, he said that he realized he didn’t have enough money to pay his bills after his paycheck was garnished by creditors.

“I was paying my bills with my credit cards and using my cash to gamble,” said Marquardt. “Push came to shove, and I thought I had found a way out.”

At Loomis Armored, he said, he had access to large sums of money and a brief window of opportunity. He said he made a plan on Feb. 9 and carried it out the next day.

“I had it in my brain how I could make it work, all the way down to which bag I could take in particular to where it could work where I could put it back,” said Marquardt.

Court records obtained by 7NEWS state that Marquardt was seen on video putting $50,000 in his cargo pants pocket when he was alone for about 10 seconds in the vault.

Then, Marquardt said, he went to Blackhawk, going to one casino after another to gamble with the stolen cash.

His plan, he said, had been to keep the winnings from blackjack and other games, but put back the $50,000 before anyone noticed it was missing.

“I can’t even tell you how I lost that much money in two days with a hundred-dollar betting limit,” said Marquardt. "I went from casino to casino so no one would get suspicious."

He said he didn’t sleep that Friday, Saturday or Sunday night, gambling every night.

Records show when Loomis managers called him about the missing money that Monday, he confessed, handing over what was left, only $5,300.

He has been arrested on felony theft charges.

“I feel terrible,” said Marquardt. “I have disappointed so many people. This has taken everything from me. So, it’s definitely the biggest mistake in my life. But I intend to take responsibility. I will pay restitution and do what I need to do to be a good citizen.”

Marquardt said he started gambling when he turned 21, and the addiction has destroyed his life. He hopes his story serves as a cautionary tale.

Records show he sometimes gambled with another Loomis employee, and Marquardt owed that person $400 for gambling loans.

“People always go up there thinking they can turn it into more than it is, and it never happens,” he said.

He said he plans to plead guilty, take responsibility for his actions and contact Gamblers Anonymous.

Loomis Armored did not respond to the 7NEWS request for comment.