Alleged Bank Robbers Head to Casino With Stolen Loot

• Two suspects were arrested at an Arizona casino, where they were spending the money they had literally just robbed from an area bank
• Michael Dino Peraino, 63, and Tyler Michael Thyaer, 31, were arrested by local police on on charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault and theft before being transferred to FBI custody
• The pair are begin held at the Central Arizona Correctional Facility awaiting a Sept. 5th arraignment

Where’s the first place you would spend the money you just robbed from a bank? If you’re Michael Dino Peraino and Tyler Michael Thayer, according to police in San Carlos, Ariz., you drive 61 miles from the bank you just robbed to a tribal casino and get arrested on its floor.

On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted the two men in connection with the July 10 robbery of a Chase Bank in Safford, Ariz., according to court documents.

Investigators allege that Thayer dropped Peraino off at the bank’s entrance. Peraino then approached a teller, handed over a note demanding $10,000, and claimed he had a gun. The teller complied.

After fleeing the scene, the pair stopped in a Walmart parking lot, where they allegedly wrapped the cash in foil and stashed it in their vehicle. Their next stop: the Apache Gold Casino Resort, located on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.

Their Luck Ran Out Fast

Later that day, San Carlos police, working with the FBI, spotted the suspects’ minivan at the casino. A search warrant helped uncover $2,000 in in the vehicle, along with a torn piece of paper matching the demand note used in the robbery.

Teaming up with the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, officers arrested Peraino and Thayer on the casino floor. Additional cash was found hidden in their clothing and inside a room they had rented at the Best Western hotel attached to the resort.

The pair were booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility on charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault and theft before being transferred to FBI custody. They’re now detained at the Central Arizona Correctional Facility in Florence, Ariz.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking $10,267.06 in restitution, including any funds spent, hidden, or distributed. According to an FBI criminal complaint, Thayer has already confessed to carrying out the robbery.

Both men are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 5 in US Magistrate Court in Tucson.