Storming Las Vegas: Storming Las Vegas: How a Cuban-Born, Soviet-Trained Commando Took Down the Strip to the Tune of Five World-Class Hote

by John Huddy

Book Overview

"In my world, you are either the hunter or the prey, and I am the hunter. Vegas was my prey. I tell my crew: Vegas makes it, Vigoa takes it." Jose Vigoa[pg. 37] When it comes to violent crime, the Las... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345514416
• ISBN13: 9780345514417
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Ballantine Group
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Storming Las Vegas

An excellent choice. This book does a great job of giving every side of the story, from each point of view. A relatively slow start following the first selection quickly gives way to non-stop action. I had trouble putting it down. A must-read for non-fiction enthusiasts.

Pleasant Surprise

A must read for anyone who visits "The Strip". You will easily recognize virtually every location described by the author in this book. He documents an amazing story in startling detail. You will be fascinated by his descriptions of events that most of us would never imagine could actually happen at these famous locations on "The Boulevard".

Unbelievable real-life crime story handled wonderfully by its author.

To be fair, John Huddy had somewhat of a slam-dunk on his hands with this under-told story. Even so, his writing and thoughtfulness took it to a level it wouldn't have reached in less capable hands. Huddy, a former police and crime beat reporter found an amazing story that had been downplayed by casinos and Las Vegas papers because of the potential for negative impact on their business. For a little longer than 24 months at the end of the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s, several Las Vegas armored cars and big-time casinos were robbed in a manner that was clearly planned by someone with a knowledge of weapons and tactics well beyond that of the average criminal. Furthermore, they were bold - done right on the strip in broad daylight. Huddy tells the story of these heists and the law enforcement effort to solve them in a gripping, nearly fiction-like narrative style that keeps you almost frantic to find out what happens next. To achieve this effect, Huddy has spent an obviously huge amount of time researching the story first-hand, talking at length with those who were involved. The finished product is the tale of a man born in Cuba and trained by the Soviet military who ends up in the United States under questionable circumstances and turns to his military training to earn an illicit living in Sin City. In this case, truth truly is stranger than fiction. Huddy deserves credit for painting an even-handed portrait of the men who committed and solved the crimes, resisting the urge to just give in to stereotyping. Beyond that, Huddy finishes with a thoughtful analysis of who our Cuban anti-hero might truly be, and who he might not be. All in all, Huddy has found a great story and done it full justice with his treatment. Highly recommended for anyone who likes non-fiction crime stories. An action-packed descendant of "In Cold Blood", by Truman Capote.

OUTSTANDING!

Well researched and written. The author does a good job of not glorifying the bad guy, and gives the victims real faces. The only disappointment of the book- and the author certainly tried to uncover the truth, is what was Vigoa's actual military background? Perhaps one day we'll find out.

RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION! BIG-TIME CRIME SPREE IN MODERN LAS VEGA

"IN MY WORLD, YOU ARE EITHER THE HUNTER OR THE PREY, AND I AM THE HUNTER. VEGAS WAS MY PREY. I TELL MY CREW: VEGAS MAKES IT, VIGOA TAKES IT!" ** JOSE VIGOA ** The first thing for potential readers to comprehend is that this entire story is absolutely true! This is not some phony, unbelievable, implausible, mockery of a Vegas caper like the "OCEANS ELEVEN" (THE REMAKE) "OCEANS TWELVE" AND "OCEANS THIRTEEN" Hollywood movies. For a period of TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS AND NINE DAYS, STARTING ON MAY 28, 1998 a "storming" of Las Vegas occurred when SIX (and nearly seven) world-class hotels were "hit"! The Desert Inn was involved in an attempted robbery which failed as it escalated into a bloody firefight. The other casinos, armored car companies, and businesses suffered losses exceeding three-million-dollars. This entire rampage was accomplished by a crew of merely three and possibly four men led by the violent and cunning Cuban born, former Russian/Cuban special force soldier Jose Vigoa. This improbable string of successful robberies in the absolute heart of the world renowned Las Vegas, Sin City, is even harder to grasp when you take into account that the hotels employ thousands of security personnel in addition to the Metropolitan Sheriffs and police. The hotels also utilize thousands upon thousands of cameras. Jose planned and approached each heist like a military operation. Some of the "interesting" things he found out is that the new modern non-mafia controlled hotels had become in his own words: "A SOFT TARGET." Armored car guards cannot brandish their weapons on casino property no matter how much money they're transporting, according to hotel policy. "Security employees, long the backbone of Vegas protection, were disarmed and ordered not to engage criminals with deadly force on hotel property, much less provide backroom retaliation." The newer hotels had open cashier cages without bars or even bulletproof glass. The city was in the midst of runaway growth, and as a result, the police department was seriously undermanned. All the while Jose researched every variable imaginable during his pre-robbery scrutiny. He would follow armored cars on their routes for months at a time. He rightly believed that faulty "getaway" plans is what hindered many would-be casino robbers. To prevent this problem, during two nighttime raids the "audacious gang" stole seventeen vehicles from a Thrifty Car Rental lot. The stolen cars were then dispersed in crucial spots of each escape route, so they could quickly change cars so the "APB's" would have law enforcement searching for the wrong cars. This scheme worked so well that after a couple of heists, the cops and FBI lost the trail so quick that Jose would go back to the crime scene and laugh at the investigation that was just started at the most recently robbed hotel. How did Jose's well planned heists turn out? Well, let's use the MGM Grand Hotel as an example. "The MGM, at the corner of Las V