Held in Gilpin County jail, pending charges
By Lynn Volkens
Officers from the Black Hawk Police Department and Colorado Division of Gaming played Santa Claus for the Lakewood Police Department this year, “gifting” them with a suspect wanted in connection to the December 23rd robbery of the U.S. Bank at 1927 South Wadsworth in their city. Lakewood Police had released information and a photograph of the suspect which were circulated en masse through various media outlets. When the 27-year-old Asian man was spotted in Black Hawk, around 7:30 p.m. Christmas Eve, law enforcement officers here arrested him and transported him to the Gilpin County jail.
Black Hawk Police Chief Stephen Cole said Cao was arrested without incident and that the case belongs to the Lakewood Police Department and the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force. “The only thing we did here was take him into custody,” Cole said. Cao was held on a warrant for parole violation, pending charges related to the Lakewood bank robbery. He is also suspected of robbing the TCF Bank on the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver on Monday morning, December 24th, prior to coming to Black Hawk. His previous arrest record includes charges of check forgery, fraud and theft.