September 20, 2005
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Fugitive Wanted in Vegas Heist Surrenders
Heather Catherine Tallchief speaks to members of the press before surrendering to federal authorities in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday Sept. 15, 2005. Tallchief told reporters that she drove the armored truck in a $3.1 million Las Vegas Strip casino armored truck heist in October 1993. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Fugitive Wanted in Vegas Heist Surrenders By KEN RITTER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 15, 8:22 PM ET
A woman accused in a multimillion-dollar armored car heist on the Las Vegas Strip surrendered to federal authorities Thursday, saying she was tired of more than a decade on the run and wanted her son to have a normal life.
“I truly feel this is the right thing to do,” Heather Catherine Tallchief, 33, said minutes before turning herself in at a federal courthouse.
Tallchief was 21 and working for an armored car company when authorities say she drove away from the Circus Circus hotel-casino with at least $2.5 million in cash.
Her lawyer, Robert Axelrod, said Thursday there was no doubt Tallchief committed the October 1993 theft, but said she was influenced by her then-boyfriend, Roberto Solis, a manipulative ex-con.
“The evidence of the physical acts are quite overwhelming. But there are mitigating factors,” Axelrod said. “He brainwashed her.”
Tallchief appeared briefly Thursday before a U.S. magistrate judge, who ordered her held without bond on nine felony charges. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 29. If convicted, Tallchief faces at least 30 years in prison.
Tallchief told reporters she and her 10-year-old son have been hiding in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where she and Solis fled after the heist.
A few months after their son was born, Tallchief said she left Solis, now 60, with the cash and has no idea where he is today. Solis remains a fugitive in the case.
Tallchief said she told her son about her intent to surrender, leaving him at school Monday in Amsterdam with some parting words.
“I told him to practice his guitar, have fun at his sporting club, do his homework, and I’ll see you soon,” Tallchief said, adding that her son will be cared for by friends in Amsterdam.
Court records say Tallchief took a position as a driver and armed guard with Loomis Armored Inc. less than six weeks before the heist.
Joe Parris, an FBI supervisory special agent in Washington, D.C., said Tallchief was a “highly sought” fugitive, but never made the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list.
Mark Clark, spokesman for Loomis Armored successor Loomis Fargo & Co. of Houston, said he welcomed Tallchief’s surrender, but said the company wants the missing money.
“I don’t suppose she turned the money in when she turned herself in,” Clark said.
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