By: Las Vegas Now Staff
The crime spree is over for a man who caused terror at several banks and convenience stores. Enrique Hurtado is at UMC after a high speed chase led to a crash. He may have robbed seven places in just three days.
Hurtado also matched descriptions in a deadly Illinois shooting. Local FBI officials don't think Hurtado is that suspect, but they're waiting on DNA and fingerprint evidence to know for sure.
It was a bold and brazen attack on the Opera House Casino in North Las Vegas. Police say this was one of his first jobs and investigators are convinced the man in the surveillance video is Enrique Hurtado.
The suspect fired a shot into the cashier's cage before forcing his way through the window and grabbing the money. Then he fired a second shot during his getaway. Witnesses say the crime spree didn't stop there.
“He walked to the door in the back and started kicking it. Then nobody was in the cash area so they came out and he just started hitting them and throwing stuff on the floor,” said 15-year-old Ashley Silva. She and her family were inside one of the stores police believe Hurtado targeted.
“My cousin and I ran to the back of the store and sat the stuff down that we had and ran out the door. We didn't know what to do,” she said.
As she and her cousin ran for cover, her dad walked right into the robbers path.
“Guy told him, ‘If you leave, I am going to blast you.' and he showed him the gun on his hip,” said Silva.
Police say Hurtado also hit other spots, including a local CVS Pharmacy. Monday morning, employee's say the man caught on camera robbing the Opera House came in to rob them. He got away with nearly $1,400.
But police were already closing in after the robbery at the Nevada Federal Credit Union on south Nellis.
The suspect's crime spree would come to a screeching halt after a high speed chase ended with a car crash and a trip to the hospital.
The bank robbery makes Hurtado a federal suspect, a crime he's accused of committing twice in one week. Police believe he also robbed a Bank of America last Wednesday.
He faces numerous charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon.
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