Bellagio Chip Thief Nabbed by Authorities

Stealing $1.5 million in large-denomination casino chips didn’t sound like a well-conceived plan, and now the motorcycle-helmeted thief whose brazen December snatch-and-run robbery at the Bellagio garnered national headlines has been arrested. Anthony Michael Carleo, 29, also known as Anthony Assad, was arrested at the Bellagio after attempting to sell some of the allegedly stolen chips to undercover authorities. Carleo was staying at the Bellagio as well, no doubt attempting to wash others of the stolen chips back into casino circulation. Carleo was arrested on Wednesday night and booked into the Clark County Detention Center earlier today on not only robbery and burglary charges, but an unexpected drug trafficking count as well.

The casino footage of the thief (now alleged to be Carleo) fleeing from the craps table where the chip grab took place has long since become familiar on national news programs, even if the question of how he so quickly eluded casino security never quite got answered. Bellagio security does not have a great reputation, but that’s a topic for another post. But the crime itself may now fade in newsworthiness compared to how much of a sad sack the accused Carleo now seems to be. The son of a controversial Las Vegas judge, Carleo is reported to have been involved with two failed Pueblo, Colorado businesses, one as a disk jockey and another dealing with limo rentals, before declaring bankruptcy in 2009. Carleo was involved in the limo service with his stepfather, Gino Carleo, seemingly taking his wife’s name as part of that business arrangement.

With the business failure and bankruptcy, Carleo is then alleged to have moved to Las Vegas and into the home of his father, Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad, a municipal judge with his own questionable track record. Here’s an example of where Judge Assad unconstitutionally jailed a man’s girlfriend in order to make the man appear and arrange restitution for unpaid tickets, after which he got off with only issuing an apology. Which begs the aside: Why are so many American judges power-crazed nut jobs?

Speaking of nuts, maybe the son’s current problems are a case of the nut not falling too far from the tree. There could still be some funnies emanating from this tale, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.

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