Man accused of trying to lure girl into Las Vegas Strip hotel room

A 37-year-old man was arrested last week after a 13-year-old girl said he tried to lure her into his Strip hotel room with the promise of $1,000, according to arresting documents.

The girl was staying at Caesars Palace on June 16 when she left her room around 10:15 p.m. to get ice from the machine in the hallway. That’s where she said a man, later identified as Robert Garcia, tried to start a conversation with her, eventually asking if she wanted to come to his hotel room, according to Garcia’s arrest report.

The girl said he introduced himself as “Eric” and offered to shake her hand, but she refused, according to the report. When she said no to his request to go to his room, Garcia offered her $1,000 to come with him, the report said.

The girl told her mother about the encounter, and hotel security and Metropolitan Police Department officers were notified. When a Metro officer asked the girl why she thought Garcia wanted her to go to his room, she said he wanted “to do something bad,” the report said.

Surveillance footage showed Garcia, who was heading toward the elevator, stop and walk toward the girl after spotting her in the hallway, the arrest report said. The video also showed him trying to talk to two other females in the hallway, but it was unclear if the others he tried speaking with were children.

Security officers found Garcia in his room that night “watching pornography on the television,” the report said. He declined to talk to Metro detectives after he was arrested.

Garcia, who is charged with luring a child to engage in a sex act, remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Thursday with a $35,000 bail, court records show. A preliminary hearing for the case is scheduled for July 5.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.