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It is alleged that Lafayette Morrison, a security guard at the track, alerted his friend Lamel Miller, both Queens residents, when and where cash would be taken to a vault following “Gotham Day” races at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday, March 7.
U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said that at approximately 9:45 p.m. on the day of the races, Miller and a third man held up several racetrack employees, including Morrison, as they were transporting more than $280,000 in cash to a vault at the racetrack.
Donning surgical masks, Miller and the third man emerged from a stairwell and confronted the employees at gunpoint demanding the cash.
It is alleged they proceeded to take the employees’ cell phones, the cash, forcing them into a closet and demanding they count to 1,000.
“Morrison was actually ‘an inside man,’ providing information in advance about where and when the money would be transported to the vault” Donoghue noted.
Aqueduct surveillance video shows Miller and the co-conspirator, still wearing surgical masks, carrying a garbage bag and a duffel bag when they exited the racetrack office and walked toward a parking lot at approximately 10:05 p.m on the day of the robbery.
“Preventing violent crime and the illegal use of firearms remain the core of ATF’s mission. As alleged, Miller and Morrison conspired in a brazen armed robbery, however, today, thanks to the efforts of the ATF/NYPD Joint Robbery Task Force, they were taken off the streets of this city and no longer pose a threat to public safety,” ATF Special Agent-in-Charge John DeVito stated.
Morrison, 37, and Miller, 37, were both charged with robbery under the federal Hobbs Act, which prohibits crimes that affect interstate or foreign commerce. They were ordered held without bail during separate video appearances before Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
“The defendants allegedly gambled that they could pull off a high-stakes robbery with the benefit of inside information,” Donoghue added. “But thanks to the outstanding efforts of ATF Special Agents and NYPD detectives, they ended up on the losing end of that bet.”
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