Man breaks into Plaza Hotel to steal TV, take shower
A Las Vegas man’s getaway wasn’t clean, but at least he was.
Las Vegas Police say 30-year-old Ignacio E. Gallegos broke into a room at the Plaza Hotel, apparently took a shower, then removed a 50-inch television from the wall and walked home with it.
Just after 9:30 a.m. on July 30, LVPD received a call from a probation officer stating that someone had seen Gallegos exit the Plaza Hotel from a rear exit carrying a TV. The caller said Gallegos was last seen walking in an alleyway behind the Adult Probation and Parole Office on Hot Springs Blvd.
According to a statement of probable cause filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court, Gallegos told police he was returning home after visiting a friend. When questioned about the TV, he told police a friend had given it to him, saying “it’s not hot.” Police asked to inspect the TV, and Gallegos obliged, allegedly telling police, “Go ahead and look at it, it’s not stolen.” Police inspected the TV, determining it was a 50-inch Vizio with a sticker on the front bezel stating “DirecTV Sensor. Do Not Remove.”
As police inspected the TV, dispatchers notified officers that someone from the Plaza Hotel had called to report one of the hotel’s rooms had been broken into and that a TV was missing. Police detained Gallegos before going to the Plaza Hotel to investigate.
Hotel staff described the missing TV as a 50-inch Vizio that had been mounted on a wall in the room. They also told police that all of the hotel’s TVs had a sticker on them identifying the remote control sensor on the front as a DirecTV sensor.
A hotel employee told police a couple had recently checked out of the room, and that it had been cleaned by housekeeping. He allowed police inside the room, and in the bathroom, an officer found wet towels on the floor, and water in the shower. He also found a green coffee cup on the bathroom counter.
Police reviewed footage from the hotel’s security cameras, which according to court records, showed a man, who was carrying a green coffee cup, enter the room. He later exited the room carrying a TV. A police officer was able to clearly identify the man as Gallegos, and another hotel employee told police he’d seen Gallegos walking around carrying a green coffee cup, and that he believed Gallegos had once worked in the kitchen at the hotel.
Gallegos was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center on July 30. He has been charged with commercial burglary, and larceny over $500, both fourth-degree felonies.
Gallegos has a lengthy criminal history in New Mexico, and has previously been sentenced under New Mexico’s habitual offender statute. He was arrested in October 2016, accused of breaking into a vehicle and stealing cash and credit cards, and using those cards at a retail store. In September 2017, Gallegos — identified in some court records as Eddie Ignacio Gallegos — accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to two felony counts of fraudulent signing of credit cards.
The court found Gallegos had violated the terms of the plea agreement on several occasions, and Gallegos failed to appear in court multiple times.
Bond for his recent arrest was set at $50,000 at a July 31 hearing, but as of this writing, Gallegos remained in custody at SMCDC. He is scheduled to appear in San Miguel Magistrate Court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
