Police: Security guards stole from cruise ship slot machines

Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | 9:45 a.m.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Three security guards stole more than $100,000 from slot machines aboard a cruise ship while it docked overnight, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said.

Clinton Rubaines, 22, and Michael Bell, 22, both of Titusville, and David W. Gammon, 24, of Cape Canaveral, were arrested at the end of their shift Sunday morning, the sheriff's office said.

The Sterling Casino Lines 1,600-passenger cruise ship, the Ambassador II, sails twice a day on five-hour gambling cruises from Port Canaveral.

Rubaines, Bell and Gammon were responsible for guarding the ship after the second cruise ended.

"Their job was to guard the ship on night hours when no one was on the ship," said sheriff's Agent Jim Landen. "It was just them and the cleaning crews."

The men deactivated the ship's security cameras and removed cash from the slot machines after turning off their locking mechanisms, Landen said.

The men told investigators they had been removing money from the slot machines for more than five weeks.

The sheriff's office said more than _$90,000 of the stolen money was recovered from the men's vehicles and homes. Landen said the men confessed to spending some of the money on new motorcycles, jewelry and clothing.

A message left early Tuesday at Sterling Casino Lines was not immediately returned.