Casino 'robbery' may have been an inside job

A Kalispell man convicted Thursday morning of holding up a west Kalispell casino with a toy gun may have had inside help, according to Flathead County prosecutors.

The Gold Dust Casino employee "robbed" by 37-year-old Jason Robert Skalsky late on the night of Oct. 26 was later discovered to be his girlfriend, Deputy Flathead County Attorney Caleb E. Simpson said.

Prosecutors allege that Shannon Sherwood, 33, a bartender and casino attendant, orchestrated the heist to cover up a $4,900 shortfall in her cash register.

Skalsky, who eventually told investigators it was Sherwood who came up with the idea of staging the robbery, has pleaded guilty in Flathead County District Court to felony theft.

Sherwood since has been charged with felony accountability to theft and felony theft by embezzlement. She was arrested Thursday afternoon at her home in Evergreen.

Because the hold-up was an inside job, there was no fear or threat of violence to Sherwood and prosecutors had to drop robbery charges, Simpson said. Pursuant to a plea bargain, prosecutors will recommend Skalsky receive a three-year probationary sentence.

According to court documents, Kalispell police responded to the casino, located in the 1000 block of U.S. 2 West, at 11:45 p.m. after a customer called to report a man wearing a Halloween mask had robbed a casino attendant.

Sherwood, who couldn't give police a description of the suspect after the hold-up, told investigators that a man had forced her to lead him to the safe and then close the door to the room.

The suspect, later identified as Skalsky, dropped the replica pistol and the bag of money during a scuffle in the parking lot with a customer who followed him out of the casino. Officers later recovered about $4,300 in cash.

Skalsky escaped and fled into a wooded area west of Gateway West Mall as officers from the Kalispell Police Department, Flathead County Sheriff's Office and Montana Highway Patrol began searching the area. He was soon found lying in the grass near Ashley Creek.

In a separate case, Skalsky pleaded not guilty in February to writing more than $1,300 in bad checks. Drug charges also are pending, Simpson said.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com