Man Who Robbed a Casino Over Big Loss Gets 52 Years Behind Bars

Daniel Birdseye from Cincinnati acted emotionally after he went on a losing streak across casinos in Ohio and Indiana, including the Hollywood Lawrenceburg, Indiana the property he would finally try to rob, which would be his downfall. From His Sentencing to His Troubled Backstory He was finally sentenced by Judge Aaron Negangard in the Dearborn Circuit Court on September 8. Judge Negangard gave Birdseye 52 years behind bars, with zero suspended years. A jury previously found him guilty of kidnapping, criminal confinement with a deadly weapon, intimidation with a deadly weapon, and battery on public safety officials in May. He also pled guilty to two of the charges, but maintained his innocence on others. The jury also acquitted him on one count of intimidation and one count of criminal confinement. Birdseye entered Hollywood Lawrenceburg, a Penn Entertainment-operated casino, on March 2, 2024, and tried to rob the property at gunpoint, taking a cage worker hostage and demanding money. The perpetrator told the cage worker that he would be his hostage, and he would “get him out of this building,” as confirmed by CCTV footage presented at his jury trial. A Short-Lived Escape Resulting in His Swift Capture Birdseye’s robbery saw one casino employee needing hospital attention and a customer receiving medical attention, while the cage employee himself was released by the perpetrator once they were outside the building. However, his success was short-lived, with law enforcement already on his trail, and his escape was curbed by police drones that were able to locate him quickly. Birdseye tried to evade law enforcement by entering the Oxbow Nature Conservancy, a 70-acre wetland, but drones were able to pinpoint his location quickly. Upon his arrest, the man was taken in with the stolen money and a 9mm firearm. The man did not go easy either and tried to punch deputies. No other details were provided about the man at the time of writing.