Luxury watch dealer feared for his life in $1M robbery

A Las Vegas police report has revealed new details on a violent $1 million robbery of merchandise from a luxury watch dealer as he sat in an Uber vehicle leaving the Tropicana in 2021.

The dealer, Raimond Irimescu, had finished showing 40 expensive vintage watches including Rolex, Harry Winston, Patek Philippe and other brands at the International Watch & Jewelry Guild expo at the Strip hotel.

At about 12:30 p.m., on Oct. 19, 2021, Uber driver Ruben Spahn picked up Irimescu at the valet area in a Toyota RAV4 and was driving on Ocean Drive headed for East Tropicana Avenue and Harry Reid International Airport, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report.

A white minivan then suddenly pulled in front of the Toyota, and a small, charcoal-colored SUV blocked it from behind, and four to six men wearing all-black clothing, black hoodies, gloves and black and white masks leapt from the minivan and started breaking the Toyota’s windows while yelling, “Don’t Move,” the report stated.

Irimescu put up his hands and was “afraid he was going to be killed” as one of the attackers appeared to be holding a gun while giving him commands, according to police.

One of the suspects then bashed in the Toyota’s rear window and grabbed two luggage bags and a backpack together containing the 40 luxury watches and pieces of jewelry with a total value of more than $1 million, plus his Apple laptop, $15,000 in cash and various miscellaneous items, police reported.

The assailants stabbed Spahn in the left hand, slashed two of the Toyota’s tires and broke five of its windows before reentering the minivan and small SUV and speeding east on East Tropicana and then south on Duke Ellington Way.

The police report lists the 40 missing used high-end watches, including a 2008 green dial Chrysoprase model Rolex worth $95,000, a 2015 Bezel Rolex valued at $45,000, a $31,000 power reserve Vacheron Constantin, a $10,000 Harry Winston automatic and a 1974 Patek Philippe worth $6,700.

In the report police described the attack as “a targeted event” with the suspects wearing masks and each having a role such as smashing windows, slashing tires, threatening Irimescu and making off with the goods.

The still-unsolved robbery is the subject of a lawsuit filed on Monday by Irimescu’s Las Vegas attorneys against the Tropicana, Uber, its subsidiary Raiser LCC, and Spahn.

The District Court lawsuit alleges that Uber and Raiser failed in their duty to provide a safe environment for Irimescu and to realize the potential risks at the time. Uber also is accused of not training its agents or employees in how to keep its passengers safe or making sure to run background checks on its workers.

The filing claims that the Tropicana, out of “recklessness and/or carelessness,” did not ensure a safe place for the plaintiff, failed to enforce security measures and failed to staff security adequately during the watch and jewelry expo.

Irimescu suffered disabling injuries in the attack that still plague him, according his lawyer David Finegold.

Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on X.