Md. Man In Casino Standoff Surrenders
Reporting
Adam May
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (WJZ/AP) ―
A masked man who claimed he was armed and had planted four bombs in a casino held police at bay from a shuttle bus for nearly six hours, demanding $3 million, before surrendering peacefully early Wednesday, police said.
It was later determined through legal records that the man, identified as David B. Kilkeary of Maryland, served over three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to twice robbing a bank in Maryland.
During the standoff, the man blamed the Showboat Casino-Hotel for the suicide of his brother, who he said was a former employee who developed a gambling problem, according to a person with knowledge of the standoff who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized by law enforcement to release the information.
A search of personnel records turned up no one with the name that authorities provided to the casino, said Alyce Parker, a spokeswoman for the Showboat's parent company.
Police spokesman Sgt. Monica McMenamin said the suspect's "motivation is under investigation and shall not be released."
The suspect was ordered held without bail by U.S. Magistrate Ann Marie Donio in Camden.
Kilkeary surrendered at 4:24 a.m., obeying an order from FBI agents to strip down to his inner clothing, said state police Sgt. Stephen Jones. "He just gave up peacefully," Jones said.
The FBI charged Kilkeary, 37, of Crofton, Md., with threatening to kill people and damage property, and with obstructing interstate commerce by extortion. The first count carries up to 10 years in prison; the second up to 20 years. Both carry up to a $250,000 fine.
While on the bus, Kilkeary told police he had an explosive he described as "C-4 on steroids," that he planted four bombs inside Showboat, and that he wanted $3 million in $100 bills, the FBI complaint said.
A message left at a listing in Maryland for Kilkeary was not immediately returned He was represented in court by an assistant federal public defender, Christopher H. O'Malley, who did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
In 1999, Kilkeary was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to repay over $23,000 after pleading guilty to twice robbing a branch of the Annapolis Bank and Trust near Cape St. Claire, Md.
Kilkeary was released in December 2002. At the time, he told police he needed the money to make a film from his screenplay.
The conflict in Atlantic City began shortly after 10:30 p.m., when police received a report of a man with a gun on a shuttle bus outside the casino. The driver fled after scuffling with the man,
Atlantic City Police Chief John J. Mooney said, and a passenger also escaped. Three other people who remained on the bus were released a short time later. There were no injuries.
Jones said the suspect, who had what police initially believed was an explosive device strapped to his body, had planted a suspicious-looking object in a men's room inside the casino near the House of Blues night club, but both the device on his chest and the one in the men's room were fakes, authorities said.
A sweep by technicians and bomb-sniffing dogs found nothing else, state police Capt. Al Della Fave said.
Mooney said a pellet or BB gun was found on the bus. Kilkeary showed a weapon when he boarded the bus, according to the FBI complaint.
Acting Atlantic City Mayor William Marsh said a robot delivered a cell phone to the bus so police could communicate with the man.
The man also offered to surrender if allowed to drive the shuttle van to his relatives' home and speak with them first -- a request police rejected. There was no indication what eventually prompted him to surrender.
The casino was shut down during the standoff but was allowed to reopen shortly after 5 a.m.
Casino patron Tony Demetro, of Atlantic City, said he was playing blackjack when Showboat staff fanned out across the casino floor around 11 p.m. and asked everyone to walk outside.
"They locked down all the tables, covered them with plastic covers and asked everybody to leave. It was pretty calm," he said.
Demetro said guests were temporarily put up in a ballroom at the nearby Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.
But not everyone made it there. Doris Kinsler of Lynchburg, Va., was with her husband and two other relatives in their room on the 15th floor of the Showboat hotel, watching television the entire night. No one told them to evacuate or that there was any potential danger, she said.
"I am mad as hell, and I don't care who knows about it," she said. "If this place blew up, we would have gone with it."
Parker said only the hotel tower nearest the van and the casino floor were evacuated after authorities determined they were potentially at risk and were evacuated. She said other areas were allowed to remain occupied because they were in no danger.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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Nine and one, first place, and this week's cash in my pocket. Can't beat me suckers!!
Hostage standoff ends safely in Atlantic City
By LYNDA COHEN Staff Writer, 609-272-7257
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2007
ATLANTIC CITY - David Bracken Kilkeary twice robbed a Maryland bank to finance a movie project.
On Tuesday night, he became the star of a real-life drama.
Kilkeary, 38, of Crofton, Md., faces federal charges after he allegedly took four people hostage on a shuttle bus outside Showboat Casino Hotel at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, holding police at bay for nearly seven hours while strapped with what appeared to be explosives.
Bill Haley said he and his wife were taking the Harrah's Express shuttle to Caesars Atlantic City when it stopped at Showboat, and Kilkeary attempted to board with a weapon - later found to be a pellet gun.
The driver, whom authorities did not identify, tried to stop Kilkeary from getting on board, Haley said.
"(The driver) was wrestling with the man, who had what was believed to be a gun," said Haley, who resides in Pennsylvania. "He was a very brave person."
A female passenger on the bus was able to escape, leaving Kilkeary with four hostages, Haley said.
Police Chief John Mooney confirmed there were four people on the bus at one point, but added that something disrupted Kilkeary's plan, causing him to move to an empty second shuttle with one of the hostages. Haley identified himself as the final hostage but declined to give details, citing the police investigation.
By 11 p.m., Kilkeary was alone in the shuttle. Hostage negotiator Sgt. Rodney Ruark then made verbal contact with him from behind a security truck. Kilkeary said he had an explosive device strapped around him - which appeared genuine - and indicated there were four bombs in the casino: a bomb with a timer and three additional devices, according to the federal complaint.
Bomb-sniffing dogs from Atlantic City and the surrounding area searched the casino. At 11:33 p.m., a suspicious package was found near the House of Blues. The device was rendered safe at 12:38 a.m., and determined to be a hoax, police said. No other devices were found.
After about two hours of talks, a robot from the city's Bomb Squad was used to deliver a cell phone to Kilkeary, who continued negotiations with Detective Ron DiGiovanni.
At 4:18 a.m., city SWAT officers took Kilkeary into custody without incident.
DiGiovanni and Ruark "did great jobs," said Capt. Tim Friel, commander of the hostage negotiating team. "We talk about these situations all the time, but this was real."
More than 100 officers from various agencies - including the FBI, Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office and the state's Detect and Render Safe Task Force - were on the scene at one point, Mooney said.
The casino floor was closed during the standoff, reopening shortly after 5 a.m., according to Mooney. A portion of the Orleans hotel tower that overlooks the porte-cochere also was evacuated.
"You could see everything that was going on, and the police asked us to do that as a precaution," Showboat spokeswoman Alyce Parker said.
Bomb squad members cleared the shuttle bus and the FBI took possession of Kilkeary's vehicle, which was parked near the Showboat at New Jersey and Arctic avenues.
By Wednesday afternoon, Kilkeary - unshaven with disheveled gray hair - was in federal court in Camden, where he waived his rights to a preliminary hearing and consented to be held without bail on the grounds he is a "danger to the community."
He is charged with making threats and obstructing interstate commerce. If convicted on both counts, he faces a maximum of 10 years for the first charge and 20 years for the second, along with a quarter-million dollar fine for each count.
This is not Kilkeary's first time in the federal system.
He was convicted of twice robbing the Annapolis Bank and Trust in 1998.
At the time, Kilkeary told police he was trying to finance a movie project based on a screenplay he had written, according to reports in The (Annapolis) Capital newspaper.
Maybe he was trying out a plot in Atlantic City. He showed off his acting chops, according to those close to the investigation. The American citizen said he was from Georgia, Russia, and spoke with a convincing Russian accent.
Investigators searched Kilkeary's Crofton property Wednesday morning, blocking off part of the street, according to The Capital. They focused part of their efforts on a large, white trailer parked nearby, neighbors said.
The Anne Arundel County Police Department's Crisis Response Team stopped at Kilkeary's house at about 4:30 p.m. but nobody was there, The Capital reported.
Nearly 45 minutes later, three people - a teenage boy, a man in his 40s and a woman - drove into a parking space outside the house, then went inside. They would not comment about the day's events, nor would they give their names.
State U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie tried to assure people attending the state League of Municipalities convention in Atlantic City that matters were in hand.
"I recognize that events like this can be disorienting," Christie said Wednesday afternoon. "What you should feel confident about is law enforcement worked in conjunction with our office to defuse the situation and then bring the man into custody today. We are on the job taking care of business so that you can take care of your business at hand."
The standoff was "a very unfortunate situation that occurred, affecting our employees and our customers," Parker said.
There was nothing in the Showboat's records to indicate Kilkeary or his family were rated players at the casino, although some people gamble without being rated.
Staff writers Elaine Rose, Steven Lemongello and Derek Harper contributed to this report.
To e-mail Lynda Cohen at The Press:
LCohen@pressofac.com
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Crofton man charged in Atlantic City bomb threat
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Beautiful Rooms-Gorgeous Views
Was convicted of two elaborate bank robberies in 1998
By SCOTT DAUGHERTY and JOSHUA STEWART Staff Writers
Published November 15, 2007
His 1998 robberies seemed ripped from the pages of a Hollywood screenplay.
David Kilkeary twice cut holes in a Cape St. Claire bank roof, waited for employees to arrive and forced them to open the vault so he could steal more than $50,000.
Even the motive the cat burglar gave police after he was caught had an air of Hollywood: He claimed he did it to finance a movie.
Now Mr. Kilkeary, a 37-year-old contractor from Crofton, is charged with living out another movie plot - one involving fake bombs, an Atlantic City casino and a six-hour standoff with police and FBI agents.
From a shuttle bus outside the Showboat Casino-Hotel yesterday morning, Mr. Kilkeary told hostage negotiators he was wearing a pressure-activated bomb with "C-4 on steroids." He said he planted four bombs in the casino and demanded $3 million in $100 bills, according to a federal complaint.
But after six hours of making demands via a robot-delivered cell phone and being turned down, Mr. Kilkeary surrendered peacefully at 4:24 a.m., obeying an order from FBI agents to strip down to his underwear, police said.
No bombs or guns were found, but police and federal agents did locate two fake explosive devices and a pellet gun, officials said.
A federal magistrate in Camden yesterday ordered Mr. Kilkeary held without bond. His public defender, Christopher H. O'Malley, didn't return two messages seeking comment.
Three people - a woman, a man and a teenage boy - declined to comment yesterday as they entered Mr. Kilkeary's home at 2500 Short Putt Court.
Neighbors and county police said federal agents searched the townhouse yesterday morning, as well as a storage trailer parked nearby on Hornbeam Drive.
Sgt. Monica McMenamin, Atlantic City police spokesman, said the suspect's "motivation is under investigation and shall not be released," but court records indicate that Mr. Kilkeary was having money problems. His bank began foreclosure proceedings on his townhouse on Oct. 26.
The FBI charged Mr. Kilkeary yesterday with threatening to kill people and damage property and obstructing interstate commerce by extortion. The first count carries up to 10 years in prison, the second up to 20. Both carry up to a $250,000 fine.
Mr. Kilkeary told police he planted four bombs inside Showboat and wanted $3 million in $100 bills, the FBI complaint said. A source close to the investigation told the Press of Atlantic City that Mr. Kilkeary spoke with a convincing Russian accent and said he was from the former Soviet state of Georgia.
The standoff began shortly after 10:30 p.m., when police received a report of a man with a gun on a shuttle bus outside the casino. Atlantic City Police Chief John J. Mooney said the driver fled after scuffling with the man and a passenger also escaped, but three people were held hostage for a short time. He said Mr. Kilkeary moved to an empty second shuttle with one of the hostages for some reason, but that man also was released before the standoff ended. There were no injuries.
More than 100 officers from various agencies were on the scene at one point, Chief Mooney said.
The standoff forced the evacuation of the casino until about 5 a.m.
Officers initially believed that Mr. Kilkeary strapped an explosive device to his body and planted a suspicious-looking object inside the casino. Both devices were later found to be fake, officials said.
Chief Mooney said a pellet gun was found on the bus. Mr. Kilkeary showed a weapon when he boarded the bus, according to the FBI complaint.
That's the same type of weapon he used in the 1998 bank robberies in Anne Arundel County.
Mr. Kilkeary pleaded guilty in October 1998 to robbing the Cape St. Claire-area branch of the Annapolis Bank and Trust twice - once in March 1998 and once in July 1998 - and trying to rob the Queenstown Bank of Maryland in Queen Anne's County in July 1998.
A federal judge sentenced him to 51 months in prison in April 1999.
He was released on Dec. 20, 2002, and placed on three years probation, federal authorities said.
According to federal court records, Mr. Kilkeary cut a hole in the roof of all three banks to get inside after hours. Foiled by a burglar alarm at the Queenstown Bank - he set off a motion detector - he was twice able to wait inside the Annapolis Bank and Trust for employees to arrive. Wearing a fake beard the first time and a blond wig and painter's uniform the second time, he stopped them at gunpoint as they came in the door ordered them to open the vault.
Mr. Kilkeary stole more than $23,000 the first time, but was nabbed after a brief chase trying to get away with about $32,000 the second time.
Interviewed by police, he told them he committed the robbery to finance a movie project based on a screenplay he had written.
"He is not your typical bank robber at all," Officer Carol Frye, a county police spokesman, said at the time.
Robert C. Bonsib of Greenbelt, Mr. Kilkeary's attorney in the bank robbery cases, argued in court that his client was suffering from a diminished mental capacity and that he used an unloaded pellet gun.
Mr. Kilkeary apologized to the court for the robberies and said he was glad he had been caught.
"What I really look forward to is starting my life back up again. ... I have to make it up to a lot of people," he said.
Since his release from prison, he has worked as a contractor.
Times have been tough, however, with county judges ordering him to pay a Millersville lumberyard more than $70,000 in 2006, court records indicate.
Creditors began foreclosure proceedings Oct. 26 on Mr. Kilkeary's Crofton home. According to court documents, he owes $335,751.14 on a mortgage he hasn't made a payment on since April 2007.
Neighbors said Mr. Kilkeary - who lives with his wife and two children a block from Crofton Woods Elementary School - is friendly and kept busy with his general contracting business.
"He was a good guy. We would chit-chat," said Glen Barrozo. "He was always busy, working."
Neighbors said a black BMW parked outside the townhouse with children's books sitting on the dash is Mr. Kilkeary's.
But nobody who lived on the street seemed to know him much beyond a kind greeting.
"They were always friendly. When I would drive by, they would wave," said Kayla Plumer.
The Associated Press and Press of Atlantic City contributed to this story.
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