New York-New York robber has long rap sheet

A man who Las Vegas police say stole thousands in cash from the New York-New York casino cage Thursday is a habitual criminal with a rap sheet dating back two decades, according to court records.

William Ronald Clark, 41, of Las Vegas, is charged with burglary and robbery, both with a deadly weapon, in the 2:06 a.m. heist at the Las Vegas Strip property. An arrest report for Clark said he was arrested after an individual walked up to the casino cage and produced a note to a teller saying “give me the money.”

The suspect simulated having a handgun.

“(The teller) pushed the note back to the suspect and stated she could not read it,” police wrote in Clark’s arrest report. “The two argued about the note and the suspect placed his right hand inside his hoodie pocket. The suspect stated ‘give me your money no one gets shot.’ ”

The woman turned over more than $4,000 in cash to the robber, who fled the scene. Las Vegas police checked video surveillance from New York-New York, allowing them to trace the suspect to the MGM Grand, where Clark had a hotel room on the 19th floor.

“During a search of the hotel room I located the pants, t-shirt and surgical mask worn by Clark during the robbery,” a detective wrote.

The police report, which had several segments blacked out, did not specify whether the stolen cash was recovered.

Las Vegas Justice Court and Clark County District Court records indicate Clark has a lengthy criminal history. He was convicted in April 2008 of robbery, assault with deadly weapon and discharging weapon out of motor vehicle. Court records indicate those convictions stem from Clark’s robbery of a group of people at gunpoint in the garage of a Las Vegas home in 2006. Clark also shot at one of the victims during the incident, but the man was not injured.

Court records indicate Clark was deemed a habitual criminal by the courts for multiple prior felonies including 1998 convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance and forgery. He also has a June 2001 conviction for attempted possession of a firearm and April 2002 convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle and discharging a firearm out of a vehicle.

Clark has repeatedly served time in the Nevada prison system. He was the subject of a parole hearing in January 2019, but the outcome of that hearing could not immediately be discerned based on online records.

Contact Glenn Puit at GPuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.