Man accused of stealing $300K in copper, tools from Strip resort
A man was arrested after he was accused in the theft of $300,000 in copper and various tools from the Fontainebleau, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department.
Fontainebleau security called police on the afternoon of Feb. 26, saying that someone had stolen copper piping, fittings and tools from the resort’s mechanical rooms. Copper piping had been cut from different construction areas on the property, the report stated.
The night before, security crews spotted a man, later identified in the report as Alejandro DeJesus, who said he was a construction worker.
He said that he did not have his credentials and would need to retrieve them from his truck. The report said that Fontainebleau security “never identified him, and the male got into his vehicle and left the property.”
A Fontainebleau security officer told police that multiple power tools and cut pieces of piping were observed next to the man, the report says.
Crews had identified two separate times in which the man’s red Nissan Frontier truck entered the resort’s parking garage.
The report estimated the value of copper fittings and tools stolen at $76,452. The construction company working with the copper piping estimated that about $200,000 in materials were taken.
Las Vegas police wrote in the report that a search revealed that DeJesus had allegedly been selling metals to Champion Recycling since 2022.
On Feb. 28, the recycling company provided police with transactions in which DeJesus allegedly sold copper piping, fittings and other metals.
Since September, according to the report, DeJesus had sold roughly 22,000 pounds of copper and metals, for which he reportedly received $51,461 from the business.
Champion Recycling told Las Vegas police that DeJesus had previously been questioned by the company regarding the large amount of copper. According to the report, DeJesus said he was a union plumber and the materials were left over from job sites.
Police said DeJesus was not listed as a union plumber in Nevada.
When speaking to police about the “incident when security stopped him at Fontainebleau,” DeJesus told officers he was “aware of the night and that he was sweeping up and ‘took some copper.’ ”
DeJesus told investigators that he had worked general labor at the casino prior to being let go in January 2023. He reportedly told police that he had learned during his job “how to get (to) the unknown areas and maintenance floors” of the property.
In an email Monday afternoon, a representative said the individual was never an employee of Fontainebleau Las Vegas or Fontainebleau Development.
According to the report, when asked about selling 22,000 pounds of metals and being informed that there was surveillance footage of him at Fontainebleau on multiple occasions, DeJesus reportedly admitted to police that he had been stealing from the casino “repeatedly.”
Court records indicate that DeJesus is currently out on bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 20.
