LAS VEGAS – An arrest report says a witness told police that the man suspected of breaking into more than 30 businesses in Las Vegas was addicted to gaming.
The 8 News Now: Cedric Hasan, 34, was first named as the suspect in the string of burglaries that have been recorded since June. Records show that he is charged with 34 counts of breaking into a shop.
According to police, 34 companies were broken into between June 23 and September 29. Most of them were in the Spring Mountain Corridor, and many of them were Asian restaurants. More than $20,000 was stolen.
The person suspected of the break-ins was said to be of an unknown race and to be wearing khaki, blue, or black pants, large commercial-grade tan/white gloves, grey work gloves, and different types of shoes.
For example, the suspect would use a wrench to open the doors or break the glass. He or she would also take off the weatherstripping on the windows and then use a tool to pry the windows open. Police say that once the suspect got inside, he or she would look through the cash register or even take the whole safe.
Later, Metro cops found Hasan to be a possible suspect in the break-ins. Police said that a record check showed Hasan had a long criminal past. He was a registered ex-felon for breaking into a business in 2021, breaking into another business in 2016, and having stolen property in 2010.
Hasan was also involved in three separate robbery sets in the Las Vegas Valley in the past. The most recent one happened in North Las Vegas in 2019. Hasan was caught in 2016 trying to break into about 20 businesses as part of a larger crime spree. The suspect in that case also used a sledgehammer, and work gloves, cut out windows to get into the businesses, and cut into safes to get cash, according to the report.
Around 8:50 a.m. on November 10, North Las Vegas police were called to the Tire Works on Centennial Parkway for a break-in. Police say that when they arrived, they saw the suspect, who was later identified as Hasan, leave the building through a broken window.
As the police tried to capture Hasan, he started to run away through the parking lot and jumped over a wall into a neighborhood. Hasan was finally caught by North Las Vegas cops.
Police in Las Vegas did not find out that Hasan had been arrested until after he had already been let out of the North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center.
Hasan turned himself into Metro police at his home in North Las Vegas on November 19. He was arrested without any problems.
A person who was in the house told police that Hasan gambled a lot and called it a “gambling addiction,” according to the report.
Police say Hasan worked as a welder. After going to jail for a 2019 burglary charge, he became a welder through the Hope for Prisoners program.
Hasan missed work on the dates of the crimes, which were July 5, July 15, August 7, and August 26. The work gloves that Hasan’s company uses were the same ones that were used in the break-ins, the police said. The same crowbar that was used in the August 26 burglaries was also found in Hasan’s work car, according to the report.
Police looked at Hasan’s Facebook and Instagram pages and saw pictures of him wearing the same clothes as the suspect in the series of thefts. These clothes included an orange hat, gloves, and a Seattle Seahawks hat.
It was also found that Hasan’s phone was in the area of several of the break-ins.
Hasan was caught and is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond. He has a court date set for December 9.
