Angry app user held in massacre threat against biz
A MIDTOWN Manhattan man accused of threatening a “Las Vegas repeat” against an app company that closed his account is facing charges that could land him in prison for 20 years.
Victor Casillas, 34, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly making murderous threats that culminated in his invocation of the Oct. 1 massacre — all because the Colorado company shut him down on suspicion he was scamming to get extra credits.
Casillas sent emails with talk of assassination, decapitation and making funeral plans, federal authorities say.
“GET READY FOR A LAS VEGAS REPEAT (Final Warning),” Casillas wrote three days after Stephen Paddock singlehandedly slaughtered 58 people from his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
“MAYBE TODAY YOU WILL MEET YOU MAKER,” he wrote.
Casillas was remanded Wednesday after his arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Haggans said Casillas’ “unrelenting, unceasing” threats terrified employees of the app, called Ibotta.
Someone had to read the emails, Haggans said, “and figure out is someone going to show up here with a machine gun today? Tomorrow? Next week?”
According to court papers, Casillas signed up with the company in 2014 and opened up 14 extra accounts over the past year.
That raised red flags at Ibotta, which closed down the accounts and offered Casillas $40 to end the dispute.
Denver-based Ibotta gives users credits for referring others, and those credits can be exchanged for money, court papers say.
The multiple accounts came from different email addresses, but all listed “Victor Casillas” as the username.
Casillas didn’t go away quietly, court papers say. He allegedly came back at the company and opened new accounts using his own name.
Ibotta saw that and deactivated the accounts in late September. That’s when Casillas became unhinged, authorities said.
In two emails sent before the mass shooting on the Vegas Strip, Casillas allegedly included pictures of heavy-duty weaponry — including on submachine gun equipped with a silencer and two MAC-11 submachine guns.
Casillas claimed he traveled to Colorado, but there's no indication in the court papers that he made any trip.
He admitted to the venomous messages — including one sent from a Brooklyn IP address Oct. 4.
Authorities found a stash of electronics at Casillas’ 34th St. place, but Haggans said they hadn’t recovered any guns.
Casillas has previously been arrested in various states for assault, larceny and battery with a deadly weapon, according to prosecutors. HIS SECRET identity is a mystery.
Police charged the unhinged man who leaped out of the second-floor window of a Midtown comic book store — but his name is unknown, sources said Wednesday.
Investigators hit the 24-yearold man, referred to only as John Doe, with charges of criminal mischief, assault and drug possession after he crashed through a window at Midtown Comics on W. 40th St. Tuesday.
The jumper, who is believed to be homeless, was bothering other businesses in the area shortly before he entered the store about 4 p.m. He wound up bolting out the window after he was confronted by a guard.
Doe remained hospitalized Wednesday with a concussion and fractured pelvis.