LAS VEGAS — A man accused of instigating a hostage standoff and throwing furniture out of a broken 21st-floor window at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip is a fugitive in a Colorado kidnapping case, authorities said Wednesday.
A judge set bail at $750,000 for Matthew John Ermond Mannix, 35, of Golden, Colorado. But even if he posts bail, Mannix would remain jailed — at least until a Thursday morning hearing on the warrant from his home state.
Prosecutor John Jones had asked Justice of the Peace Rebecca Saxe to set bail at $2 million. He cited “extreme violence” during the Tuesday standoff that lasted more than five hours, “excessive damage” to property, and danger posed to hotel guests who fled as items ranging from a coffee maker to a desk fell into the hotel swimming pool area.
Jones told the judge that Mannix has criminal convictions for kidnapping in 2022 and property damage in 2012 in Colorado, and said multiple people have court orders of protection against him. The prosecutor said the fugitive warrant is related to a kidnapping case.
Marissa Pensabene, a deputy public defender temporarily representing Mannix for his initial court appearance, said afterward that she didn't know if he could post the $750,000 bail.
Mannix appeared agitated in shackles behind a glass window in court, and began to speak after Saxe set his bail amount. He stopped when his microphone apparently malfunctioned.
Mannix was not asked to enter pleas to charges including coercion with the threat of force, destruction of property and resisting arrest with a deadly weapon not a firearm. A conviction in Nevada on the kidnapping charge carries the possibility of life in prison. The judge set his next court date on Monday.
Police said in his arrest report that Mannix claimed he had a gun and threatened to shoot security officers if they tried to enter a room where he had allegedly pulled the woman inside by force. The woman announced through the door to police that Mannix had a knife, police said, and Mannix allegedly taunted police by opening and closing the door and announcing that he had “a magazine full of” bullets.
Police said a knife was found after Mannix surrendered, but no gun was reported.
Mannix identified the woman as his girlfriend, but the judge on Wednesday ordered him to have no contact with her. The woman's name was not made public.
The woman had bruises and cuts on her legs and lower abdomen that she told police she received climbing a fence, but authorities said she was not seriously injured and was questioned by detectives.
“When taken into custody, both (Mannix and the woman) were clearly under the influence of narcotics and experiencing drug-induced paranoia,” police said in their report. “It appeared the two … had binged illegal narcotics for the past several days.”
No other injuries were reported during or after the standoff in the 29-story tower of the flagship Caesars Entertainment Inc. property at the heart of the Las Vegas Boulevard resort corridor. The tower is one of six at Caesars Palace, which has nearly 4,000 rooms.
John Marshall, an Associated Press writer who was vacationing with his family and stayed in a fifth-floor room, reported that he and guests on other floors were not evacuated or restricted from movements.
Gambling continued uninterrupted in the casino, although hotel security officers and police were visible in the guest valet area, Marshall said.
Caesars Entertainment issued a statement following Mannix's arrest saying there was “a security incident inside a guest room.”
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
