Former casino operator critical following assault at gas station

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 11:57 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

A Las Vegas man who once operated a casino boat in Dubuque, Iowa, was in critical condition today at University Medical Center following an assault last week.

Robert Kehl, 65, was in the intensive care after being beaten by a man who approached him at a Las Vegas gas station last Wednesday.

Details of the incident were not immediately available. Kehl reportedly suffered head trauma in the attack. A hospital spokeswoman today said his condition remained critical.

Kehl is a former restaurant owner who opened the Dubuque Casino Belle in 1991. He sold the boat in 1993 and moved to Las Vegas.

Kehl's sons, Dan and Bobby Kehl, operated the Catfish Bend Casinos in Burlington, Iowa, and his daughter, Tina, is involved with the Mississippi Belle II riverboat casino in Clinton, Iowa.

Robert Kehl and his wife, Ruth, also have a residence in Dubuque.

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