Posted on: May 30, 2024, 07:42h.
Last updated on: May 30, 2024, 07:42h.
A California jeweler this week was once again the victim of a violent holdup in Las Vegas after departing from a jewelry show.
Raimond Irimescu was visiting from Sacramento, California to attend the International Watch and Jewelry Guild Show at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Tuesday, according to Las Vegas TV station KVVU.
He was carrying a bag of “high-end” watches and was in a rush. Rather, than shipping the watches back to California, or leaving with a group, he called for an Uber ride.
A short time after getting into the car, the Uber driver stopped at a red light on Paradise Road near Tropicana Avenue at about 5:15 p.m.
A white minivan pulled up in front of them and a small SUV drove up behind them.
Four guys get out. They are all wearing black. They have masks on. They all have gloves on. They all have bulletproof vests on,” Irimescu recalled to KVVU.
The bandits approached the Uber and they punctured its tires.
Zapped by Stun Gun
They smashed two windows on the car with a baseball bat. The robbers also threatened both Irimescu and the Uber driver. One of the suspects had stun gun. He shocked Irimescu with the device. Another of the bandits was holding a firearm.
The robbers then grabbed the bag of watches and fled from the crime scene.
Police didn’t provide an estimated value on the missing watches.
Prior Robbery
In an interview with KVVU, Irimescu revealed that in October 2021, he was robbed in Las Vegas in almost an identical manner.
He was at the same jewelry show, which that year was being held at the Tropicana Las Vegas, which has since closed. He left with his bag of watches and got into a Toyota operated by an Uber driver.
The suspects drove up in two vehicles. A white minivan blocked the Uber from the front and an SUV blocked it from behind.
Between four and six robbers then rushed up to the vehicle. Each was wearing black clothes, black hoodies, gloves, and black and white masks. One of the robbers apparently was armed with a gun.
The Uber driver was stabbed in his hand and Irimescu feared for his own safety. The suspects slashed tires on the Toyota and smashed windows on the vehicle, too.
Soon, they got hold of two pieces of luggage and a backpack containing the watches.
That time, the suspects got away with $1M worth of high-end watches, police said. They included 40 vintage watches including a Rolex, Harry Winston, and Patek Philippe, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Rolex was valued at $95K.
They also stole $15K in cash and a laptop computer from the Uber vehicle.
Irimescu, who runs a family-owned jewelry business, called Paul’s Watch Repair, said he sued Tropicana and Uber for the 2021 robbery.
In the court action, he claims both Uber and the hotel didn’t do enough to prevent such incidents from taking place and failed to ensure Irimescu’s safety. Neither business chose to comment when the lawsuit was filed.
Neither the suspects in this week’s robbery nor the one in 2021 have been arrested. It’s unclear if Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officers have possible suspects in mind in either case.
It appears Irimescu was targeted by the robbers in both incidents.
