'Neon Bandit,' Accused Of 11 Robberies, Pleads Guilty

DENVER, CO – A man accused of being part of an armed robbery duo police dubbed the "Neon Bandits" who allegedly participated in at least 11 armed robberies in 2017 pleaded guilty in Denver County District Court Monday. A dropped cellphone and some Facebook sleuthing helped officers make the arrest, according to police reports.

Geoddis Smith, 20, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault Monday. He had been charged with multiple counts of armed robbery and aggravated robbery, as well as possession of weapons charges, which were dropped by the Denver County District Attorney's Office.

Smith has been in custody at a Denver jail since he was arrested by Denver police in July of 2017. Smith and his alleged associate, Keandre Austin-Casias, 21, allegedly committed a string of armed robberies of gas stations, convenience stores and liquor stores in Denver and Aurora between February and July of 2017. Police had surveillance video footage of the two, and had nicknamed them the "Neon Bandits," according to a police affidavit, but had no leads on their identities.

The robberies had similar modus operandi, police said: Two men would enter the location, point handguns at the clerks or customers and demand money. Then they would take purses and valuables from people in the business and try to remove money in the cash register. They would flee on foot, police said.

On July 2, 2017, two of these robberies happened within 20 minutes of each other at a gas station in the 900 block of South Monaco Street and then at a convenience store in the 7200 block of East 7th Avenue, an arrest affidavit said.

While investigating, officers found a dropped cellphone in the 2000 block of Galena Street. The image on the phone featured two men "flashing cash," the arrest affidavit said. The phone also contained messages to a social media handle for "Reccless Tre Nevvin," which was traced back to Smith.

Police recognized and arrested Austin-Casias, who then identified Smith as his associate in the gas station and convenience store robberies, as well as a Feb. 14, 2017 robbery of a liquor store in the 4600 block of Tower Road. Austin-Casias told police Smith was the gunman in that robbery and that he just stole cigarettes, the arrest affidavit said.

Police arrested Smith at his residence in the 4500 block of Gibraltar Way in Denver.

Austin-Casias pleaded guilty in February to weapons charges and got two years of probation in April, plus 150 days of time in jail.

Smith is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on Jan. 28, 2019.

Image via Denver County District Attorney's Office

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