He signed up for a casino card and police used it to find him in connection with robbery
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office used surveillance video of a man registering for a Reef Rewards Players Club card at the Silver Reef Casino to identify him after he allegedly attempted to steal a car from a woman by assaulting her and threatening to shoot her last month in the casino parking lot.
Arlington resident Jesse Arthur Grooms, 25, was recently arrested in Snohomish County on a warrant out of Whatcom County and was transferred to Whatcom County Jail without bail Thursday on suspicion of first-degree robbery.
According to court documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court Dec. 31, the woman left the casino and walked to her car in the parking lot on Dec. 9. As she unlocked her car door using the fob and opened the driver’s door, Grooms reportedly hit her on the shoulder, forcing her to turn around, where he was standing “about two inches from her.” She reported that she did not know Grooms.
Grooms demanded she give him the keys to her car, the documents state, and grabbed her hand and the keys. A struggle ensued, and Grooms reportedly said, “I’m gonna shoot you. I will shoot you,” and reached for his right coat pocket.
The woman, who screamed for help, reportedly said she could see an “L” shaped object in the pocket, but Grooms never pulled a gun out.
She managed to push away from Grooms but fell, the court records said, and Grooms reportedly stared at her and reached into his jacket pocket. Fearing she was going to be shot, the woman fled into the casino to seek help.
The incident was captured on the casino’s surveillance video system, court documents state, and the woman was on her phone at the time of the attack with a friend, who overheard the threats.
The sheriff’s office also reviewed surveillance video of Grooms signing up for a player’s card, documents state, where he provided his ID to get the card and was wearing clothing that matched what he was seen wearing in the video from the attack.
Deputies attempted to contact Grooms at his home in Arlington, the documents said, but he managed to elude law enforcement until recently.
This story was originally published January 25, 2019 at 12:23 PM.
