A word to the wise: When someone has multiple menacing facial tattoos, it typically spells bad news.

Andrew Matthew Baca is inked up accordingly, and he did nothing to discredit the aforementioned stereotype this past Oct. 4 at the Famous Bonanza Casino in Central City, Colorado. After Baca allegedly stole an envelope containing $900 from an elderly patron, four Colorado Division of Gaming investigators attempted to arrest him. Baca, however, had no desire to comply with their verbal orders, causing all parties involved to fall to the casino floor as Baca attempted to elude them on foot.

According to the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission’s March 21 meeting agenda, Baca eventually “became highly aggressive” and broke the “decorative glass” on the front of a slot machine with his right hand. He grabbed a shard of glass that was approximately 12 inches long and “was able to strike and injure two of the investigators” causing lacerations on one of their necks and the other’s wrist.

When Baca lunged for another shard of glass, the remaining two investigators drew their firearms and Baca finally stood down. He was then booked into the Gilpin County Detention Facility on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault of a peace officer, resisting arrest, felony menacing, criminal mischief, and theft. He is due to be arraigned on March 26.

A review of Baca’s prior run-ins with the law revealed that he is a seasoned criminal who has already been convicted of assaulting a peace officer. And since his incarceration for the Famous Bonanza incident, he’s been charged with smuggling and possessing contraband in prison.

Brass balls

Agent Jeremy Wolff is requesting that the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission add Baca to the state’s involuntary exclusion list, and Table Games Chair Michael Payne is asking that the same punishment be applied to an alleged roulette scammer named Shaun Benward.

Benward’s scheme, which he’s allegedly executed at casinos all over the country, is to make a bet right before a dealer says wagering is closed. He then argues that he has called out the winning number regardless of the claim’s veracity, getting an accomplice posing as a bystander to back his assertions.

According to the March 21 meeting agenda, this has typically resulted in casino managers agreeing to pay him out. His latest attempt to carry out this scheme was detected at a Cripple Creek casino called the Brass Ass, and there are now multiple warrants out for his arrest.

Photo: Getty Images