An intense five-hour standoff between Las Vegas police and a Colorado man who barricaded himself and his girlfriend in a room and held her hostage on the 21st floor of one of the hotel towers for Caesars Palace on the Strip ended peacefully with the man’s arrest July 11.
No injuries were reported, but the man in custody, 35-year-old Matthew Mannix, caused tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of property damage by smashing the room’s windows and throwing just about all of the furniture down below to the casino’s pool area, which was evacuated as soon as the standoff was reported.
One detective indicated in his records that it was one of the worst displays of property damage he’d seen in 18 years on duty.
When Mannix appeared in court the following day, he was ordered to be held on $750,000 bail, after it was discovered that he was wanted in Colorado on a fugitive warrant. According to Chief Deputy District Attorney John Jones, Mannix had a kidnapping conviction from 2022 as well as another property damage conviction in 2012.
Authorities said the reasoning for the fugitive warrant was unclear at this time, but noted that Mannix also has four active protection orders outstanding against him.
Court filings indicate that he has been charged with kidnapping, property damage of more than $5,000, being a fugitive in another state, disregarding public safety, resisting a public officer with a non-firearm deadly weapon and coercion with force or threat of force.
He is scheduled to appear in court again July 17.
Caesars security first responded to the couple’s room at approximately 9 a.m. July 11 after several noise complaints from other guests. However, when they arrived, Mannix warned them to leave, saying that he had “a magazine full of rounds,” per the arrest report.
His girlfriend then yelled that he had a knife, which was later recovered; no firearms were found at the scene.
Police said in their report that the couple was extremely high on meth during the ordeal, with Mannix reportedly going through a series of episodes and hallucinations over the course of the five hours.
