Indiana Casino Player Allegedly Followed, Robbed Of Winnings

Posted on September 27, 2022 - Last Updated on September 30, 2022

Police arrested an Indiana man after allegedly following a woman home from a casino and robbed her of her winnings.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Solomon Evans Jr. was arrested earlier this month on one count of robbery resulting in bodily injury and one count of armed robbery.

Another man reportedly involved in the robbery appears to still be at large.

Earlier this month, the victim called police to report an armed robbery of more than $200,000. The victim claimed the suspects took a pair of her rings (valued at $91,000 and $88,000) and around $40,000 in cash.

According to the victim’s report, two men robbed her at gunpoint when she arrived at her house.

How did the Indiana casino robbery happen?

Police believe the men targeted the victim while she was at a casino in Gary, Indiana. Casino surveillance video captured two men watching the victim while she gambled in the early hours of Sept. 7, according to ABC57.

Police have not released the name of the casino.

The victim left the casino around 5 a.m. EST. According to ABC57, the two men allegedly waited inside a black Dodge Ram pickup truck in the casino’s parking lot. When the woman left the casino, the truck pulled out and followed.

The victim explained to police that she got on the Indiana Toll Road at Portage and exited at the Notre Dame Plaza in Roseland.

The transporter code on the plate of the truck in question showed up in logs. These logs showed the truck getting on and off at the same spots as the victim.

Arrested suspect has a different story

Evans said he was at the casino the same night as the victim, but according to reports, he claims he drove the pickup truck to South Bend to pick up a dog. The suspect said the person who owned the dog wasn’t home, so he left.

Evans provided the name of said person to the police, and they followed up. When the police spoke to the person, he said he was at work at the time Evans came by his residence and that he wasn’t aware that Evans even went there.

The timeline doesn’t add up, though, police said. According to reports, the time needed for Evans to drive to the man’s residence from Toll Road does not match when he reported getting off and back on Roll Road.

Evan’s cell phone data from his provider show his phone pinged at the Toll Road but never came up where the man with the dog lived.

Evans is currently being held at the St. Joseph County Jail awaiting his court date of Oct. 27. His bond is listed at $100,000.

Something similar happened at an Iowa casino

Earlier this summer, two men allegedly watched as a 71-year-old woman won more than $15,000 at the Prairie Meadows Casino in Altoona, Iowa. They followed her from the casino parking lot to a different road at 3:15 a.m. as she left the casino.

From there, the two men forced her off the road at one point, according to the Des Moines Police Department. One man smashed the driver’s side window, showed a firearm, and took her purse.

Police arrested Timothy Jacob Spencer and Jared Fernand Shoning and charged them with robbery and theft from the Jul. 19 incident.

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Adam Hensley

Adam Hensley is a journalist from Des Moines, Iowa, who currently works for the USA Today Network. His byline has appeared in the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated and sites within the USA Today Network. Hensley graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 and spent his college career working for the Daily Iowan’s sports department, both as an editor and reporter.

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