Las vegas casino heist, Vegas crooks may conjure images of the neon city’s old days run by the mob, but in the past two decades, a new crop of criminals has made a name for themselves by executing daring casino robberies or thefts — some botched, some successful, most solved.
And they’re not all bad boys. A woman even makes the list, which covers a wide array of Strip properties. These five notable casino robberies or thefts occurred at high-end casinos and cheaper properties, with some criminals brandishing weapons and others simply walking or driving away.
But the headline-grabbing stories paint a fair warning to would-be casino thieves or robbers: More often than not, these crooks end up behind bars. It’s only a matter of time.
Biker Bandit' Bellagio Robbery in 2010
The world came to know him as the “biker bandit,” the man who stole $1.5 million worth of casino chips from the Bellagio during a brazen heist Dec. 14, 2010. Seemingly ripped from the pages of a Hollywood script, then 29-year-old Anthony Carleo rode up to the casino entrance on a motorcycle, walked to a craps table, pulled a gun and demanded chips.
His downfall? He stole a wide range of chip denominations, including ones worth $25,000. He tried peddling them on an Internet poker website, using the email address cranberrykid25@yahoo.com (a reference to the color of the $25,000 chips) and signing the emails, “biker bandit.” Metro Police caught up with him seven weeks after the robbery at the Bellagio, where he was gambling and attempting to sell chips to undercover officers.
Carleo, the son of a former Las Vegas Municipal Court judge, confessed to the crime. In August 2011, a Clark County judge sentenced Carleo to serve from nine to 27 years in prison for the Bellagio robbery and an earlier heist he committed at the Suncoast Casino on Dec. 9, 2010.
And they’re not all bad boys. A woman even makes the list, which covers a wide array of Strip properties. These five notable casino robberies or thefts occurred at high-end casinos and cheaper properties, with some criminals brandishing weapons and others simply walking or driving away.
But the headline-grabbing stories paint a fair warning to would-be casino thieves or robbers: More often than not, these crooks end up behind bars. It’s only a matter of time.
Biker Bandit' Bellagio Robbery in 2010
The world came to know him as the “biker bandit,” the man who stole $1.5 million worth of casino chips from the Bellagio during a brazen heist Dec. 14, 2010. Seemingly ripped from the pages of a Hollywood script, then 29-year-old Anthony Carleo rode up to the casino entrance on a motorcycle, walked to a craps table, pulled a gun and demanded chips.
His downfall? He stole a wide range of chip denominations, including ones worth $25,000. He tried peddling them on an Internet poker website, using the email address cranberrykid25@yahoo.com (a reference to the color of the $25,000 chips) and signing the emails, “biker bandit.” Metro Police caught up with him seven weeks after the robbery at the Bellagio, where he was gambling and attempting to sell chips to undercover officers.
Carleo, the son of a former Las Vegas Municipal Court judge, confessed to the crime. In August 2011, a Clark County judge sentenced Carleo to serve from nine to 27 years in prison for the Bellagio robbery and an earlier heist he committed at the Suncoast Casino on Dec. 9, 2010.
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