Luxury Watch Dealer Sues Tropicana for $1 Million After Robbery

Luxury watch dealer Raimond Irimescu has filed a lawsuit against Tropicana Las Vegas and Uber, alleging negligence and failure to provide adequate security during a robbery incident two years ago.

The incident resulted in the theft of merchandise worth over $1 million and left Irimescu with debilitating injuries that continue to affect his day-to-day life.

The lawsuit, filed in District Court, claims that several assailants attacked Irimescu at the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel in October 2021, stealing two luggage bags and a backpack containing valuable items.

Irimescu was in Las Vegas for the International Watch & Jewelry Guild expo which was held at the Tropicana. He was in an Uber waiting to leave the property when a white minivan and a gray SUV swooped in and prevented the Uber from moving.

The lawsuit filing stated:

“Approximately four individuals … wearing all black and black and white masks jumped out of the white minivan and gray SUV and broke the windows of the vehicle in which Plaintiff Irimescu was a passenger.

“The men viciously attacked the plaintiff, leaving him with disabling injuries. They grabbed two luggage bags and a backpack containing the watches that Irimescu had exhibited at the expo.”

Irimescu alleges that Tropicana Las Vegas, due to "recklessness and/or carelessness," failed to ensure a safe environment for an event that would be expected to attract criminal activity due to the high-value timepieces on show.

Surprisingly, the lawsuit also implicates Uber and its subsidiary Raiser LLC, along with the driver Rubin Spahn, for failing to provide a safe environment for Irimescu and not recognising the potential risks at the time.

What Irimescu thinks the driver is supposed to have done is anybody’s guess.

More Watch Crime in Sin City

We don’t know what it is with expensive watches in Sin City but these timepieces seem to feature in every second crime story lately.

Last month Tramiyah Stephens of Las Vegas was arrested and charged with grand larceny after swiping two Rolex Presidentials valued at $60,500 and $49,000, respectively.

Stephens hooked up with a man on the high stakes gaming floor of the Wynn when he was cashing out winnings. The pair went up to his room and Stephens was left alone while the man took a shower.

Stephens gave the man a massage and waited for him to fall asleep after he placed a watch case on the bed containing the two Rolexes.

In September, Coriana Singelton, 29, and Marriah Vanderwaal, 32 were charged with grand larceny, burglary, and conspiracy after stealing $120,000 and a Rolex watch from an unsuspecting man they met on the gaming floor of Caesars Palace.

Only two weeks ago, Ariel Jackson, 25, was charged with grand larceny and conspiracy to commit grand larceny after stealing a Rolex watch by hiding it under her wig, according to a report by Las Vegas TV station KLAS.

Anyone thinking of a trip to Sin City in the near future would probably be well-advised to leave the expensive watches at home.