LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Several guests staying at the Rio Las Vegas claimed their room was broken into while they slept and had thousands of dollars worth of property stolen.
“The feeling of being violated while we were sleeping is still kind of haunting me,” said Mindy Smith, who stayed at the property in February.
Smith says the room she was staying in with her husband was targeted. The thief or thieves were able to get inside. Smith says approximately $6,000 worth of property was stolen.
“We were left with no debit cards, no credit cards, no telephone,” Smith said.
She says they also lost $1,400 in cash and made purchases using her husband’s credit card.
“We were literally three feet away from them,” Smith said.
Smith says as unusual as it may seem, neither of them heard a thing.
Last week, Channel 13 reported on a similar crime that was reported at the property.
“We came here to have an amazing, epic time and we’re pretty much stranded in our hotel room,” said Thomas Weisend, who claims he lost nearly $10,000 after somebody managed to get inside of his hotel room at Rio while he was sleeping.
“It definitely seems strange,” Smith said.
All three victims tell Channel 13 that Rio security told them they had no leads because there are no video cameras in the hallways to capture entries into the rooms.
“They said, 'you must have left your door open,' but, you know, we travel a lot and we don’t leave our door open,” Smith said.
Security expert Adam Coughran spent 19 years as a police officer in Orange County, Calif. with the tourist-oriented policing unit.
“Cameras in hospitality — it's a fine balance between weighing the privacy of the guest, weighing the security of the hotel, but also weighing the liability and risk to a hotel," Coughran said. "While room burglaries are not necessarily uncommon anywhere in the world, no less than the Las Vegas Strip, what I do find interesting is the manner that they’re getting into the rooms and the fact that people are actually still in their rooms."
The property released a statement to Channel 13, which reads in part:
“We can confirm there was an incident at the resort, but the details are still being investigated. The safety and security of our guests remain the resort’s top priority. We have no further comment at this time.“
Under Nevada law, hotels are not liable for theft of any property a guest leaves in a room where they have access to a safe, none of which were being used when these crimes were committed.
