Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

crime:

Gunman robs Rio of $32,000 in gaming chips, leaves in a taxi

Rio

File photo

The Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

Updated Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 | 10:23 a.m.

Map of The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino

The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino

3700 W. Flamingo Rd., Las Vegas

Metro Police are searching for an armed man who wore a fedora hat, a fake mustache and sunglasses into the Rio Las Vegas hotel-casino early this morning, stole about $32,000 in chips and left in a taxi.

Lt. Barbara Schmidt said the robbery happened at 4:40 a.m. when the man walked into the casino and took the chips from a gaming table.

Police spokesman Marcus Martin said a dealer slapped the man's hand away, then the man displayed a gun. No one was injured.

A casino source familiar with the facts of the investigation told The Associated Press the robber made off with about $21,000 in $1,000 chips. The rest of the chips stolen were worth $500, $100 and $25 each. The source requested anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly release details about the crime.

Martin said the man arrived at the casino via taxi, then left in a taxi in an unknown direction.

Authorities were working to recover surveillance video of the robbery.

The robbery follows a Wednesday court appearance for Anthony M. Carleo, who police say stole about $1.4 million in casino chips on Dec. 14, 2010, from the Bellagio hotel-casino and sped away on a motorcycle into the night.

Carleo was arrested Feb. 3 at the resort after he was allegedly making a transaction to sell the pink $25,000 chips to the undercover police officer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy