Accused casino robbers plead not guilty in court
Three young residents of Flathead County pleaded innocent to charges connected to a November casino theft in Flathead County District Court Thursday.
Bigfork siblings Darren Hayes, 19, and Katelynne Hayes, 18, are accused of conspiring along with 22-year-old former Glacier Gold Casino employee Darah Hughes to rob the Columbia Falls business.
A fourth person, 16-year-old Dustin Payne, was also arrested and is being prosecuted in juvenile court.
Darren and Katelynne Hayes each pleaded not guilty to felony accountability of theft while Hughes pleaded innocent to felony theft Thursday.
Judge David Ortley advised the three, who have all been released from the Flathead County Detention Center, to refrain from discussing the case among themselves.
“The last thing any of you need to be accused of is witness tampering,” Ortley said.
Each of the charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in Montana State Prison and a fine of $50,000.
According to court documents, Darren and Katelynne Hayes conceived the idea of staging a robbery at the Glacier Gold Casino, located in the Osprey Business Court in Columbia Falls.
Hughes was employed at the casino at the time of the Nov. 20 theft, and according to court documents she was Darren Hayes’ girlfriend. She had initially been listed as a victim of the theft.
According to court documents, a panic alarm was activated at the casino at about 5 p.m. Responding officers spoke with Hughes who said someone entered the casino with “an object like a pistol in the sweatshirt pocket.” She said she could not determine the gender of the suspect.
Hughes told officers the suspect led her to a back room where safes were located and fled with $4,800.
On Dec. 20, casino owner Greg Bauska told investigators that he had heard that Payne and his girlfriend, Katelynne Hayes, were involved.
Detectives later determined that Payne drove a pickup truck matching the description of a truck captured by surveillance cameras.
In an interview with a detective, Payne allegedly admitted to driving the truck and said that Katelynne Hayes had conducted the staged robbery, according to court documents.
Payne also said in the interview that the money was split evenly between himself, Katelynne Hayes, Darren Hayes and Darah Hughes, according to court documents.
In a follow-up interview, Katelynne Hayes said she and her brother planned the theft and that she had used a BB gun to stage the robbery.
Darren Hayes allegedly called Hughes to inform her that the robbery would take place on Nov. 20.
All three of the defendants are scheduled to appear for pre-trial hearings Feb. 2 with trials tentatively scheduled for the week of March 7.