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Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 | 1:56 p.m.
Akingide Cole
California law enforcement officers have arrested a man suspected of stealing more than $1.6 million in high-denomination gaming chips earlier this month from the Venetian casino, Metro Police announced Tuesday.
Media coverage of the theft led to a tip that helped authorities locate Akingide Cole, a 31-year-old from Palmdale, Calif., Metro Police said. Sheriff’s officers from San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County arrested Cole on Wednesday near his mother’s home in Southern California.
Cole was arrested on fugitive warrants charging him with grand larceny, burglary and possession of burglary tools.
Detectives from Metro’s tourist crimes unit traveled to interview Cole and were able to recover about $396,000 in chips. They are in the process of searching for the remainder of the stolen property, said Laura Meltzer, Metro spokeswoman.
The theft occurred shortly after 6 a.m. Oct. 10 from an area where the chips were kept, off the casino floor, police said.
Cole has not yet been extradited to Nevada, police said.
In the spirit of Venice, The Venetian is a little piece of romantic Italy right here in Las Vegas. The Venetian is an "all-suite" hotel, with rooms accented with plush linens and Italian marble. The 4,027 suites are divided into two towers: The 36-story Venetian Tower that offers guests a taste of luxurious Las Vegas and the Venezia suites, which guarantee 12 floors of high-end elegance. The top five floors are the hotel's highest level of luxury with its private access, concierge lounge, upgraded features and even a dedicated staff.
Entertainment at the Venetian includes shows such as Tim and Faith - Soul2Soul, featuring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and Rock of Ages.
The flagship of Venetian nightlife is TAO, an ultra-hip nightclub located inside of TAO Asian Bistro. V Bar is The Venetian's super smooth ultra lounge, made by the owners of New York City's club Lotus and Los Angeles' super swank Sunset Room.
The Venetian features 19 restaurants including Thomas Keller's award-winning French restaurant Bouchon, Mario Batali's B&B Ristorante, Aquaknox for fresh seafood and the 42,000 square foot TAO Asian Bistro. There's also the food court inside the Canal Shoppes for those looking for a quick bite.
Guests can float along The Grand Canal Shops in an authentic Italian gondola ride and pass stores like Burberry and Kenneth Cole along the way. And if you haven't caught a real celeb, on the street in Vegas, you can head over to Madame Tussauds to check out a wax version.
stealing plastic. smart.
I know that taking something that's not yours is a criminal offence but... He didn't take anything of value the chips are worthless until cashed, Furthermore this type of chip is tracked, You have to show where it came from how you acquired it. It's also my understanding that the casino chip has a tracking chip inside of it. Or I have been told wrong but would like to know if that's true or not. Please advise
I've heard that some larger-denomination chips have radio-frequency tags in them to allow them to be tracked, much as pallets of goods do when shipped. Which ones they are, or which casinos use them, are not known to me.
It would be quite effective to have a backup chip design that could be used to replace the stolen denomination chips, and the old chips destroyed. It wouldn't take more than a couple of hours to change out all of the chips in all of the trays. Some chips are replaced from time to time due to excessive wear, but they can be replaced with the regular design. If someone took a chip home as a souvenir or by mistake, they can be given six months to redeem the old chips after the chips are replaced.