Man wanted in robbery of pregnant woman

A warrant was issued Friday for a Carson City man wanted in connection with a strong-armed robbery of a pregnant woman Thursday afternoon.

Thomas Diaz, 37, is suspected of the 1:35 p.m. robbery in the southeast corner of the SlotWorld parking lot on Highway 50 East.

According to the police report, the woman had cashed her $950 paycheck when, still clutching the money, she left the casino through the south door.

Moments later, security cameras allegedly show Diaz following the victim as she walked to her vehicle.

The woman told police a man in a tan hat, dark sweatshirt and sunglasses approached her car door and told her she'd dropped something.

The woman claims she looked back, didn't see anything, then became nervous about the man and began backing out of the parking space.

Summers said Diaz allegedly reached in the open window, snatched the money out of the woman's hand and took off southbound on Edmonds Drive on foot. The woman then called 911.

Earlier, Alternative Sentencing Chief Kevin Field and Officer Chris Pitzer had been leaving the casino through the north entrance when they recognized Diaz as one of the department's cases. They didn't contact him at the time, said Detective Cate Summers.

But when Field and Pitzer heard a dispatch report of the robbery, they returned to the casino and were able to identify Diaz from tape recorded by parking lot surveillance cameras.

Diaz was not in the casino before the robbery, said Jim Branstetter, casino shift manager.

He is described as 5-feet 11-inches tall, weighing 152 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Carson City Sheriff's Department's non-emergency dispatch at 887-2008 or 887-2007.

- Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.