On September 20, 1998, Jose Vigoa, a child of Fidel Castro’s
revolution, launched what would be the most audacious and ruthless
series of high-profile casino and armored car robberies that Las
Vegas had ever seen. In a brazen sixteen-month reign of terror, he
and his crew would hit the crème de la crème of Vegas hotels: the
MGM, the Desert Inn, the New York—New York, the Mandalay Bay, and
the Bellagio. The robberies were well planned and executed, and the
police–“the stupids,” as Vigoa contemptuously referred to them–were
all but helpless to stop them. But Lt. John Alamshaw, the
twenty-three-year veteran in charge of robbery detectives, was not
giving up so easily. For him, Vigoa’s rampage was a personal
affront. And he would do whatever it took, even risk his badge, to
bring Vigoa down.