This $180K Casino Heist Definitely Lacks The Elegance Of Ocean’s Eleven
On the morning of Tuesday, July 22, two masked suspects pulled off a $180K casino heist that for all intents and purposes in no way, shape, or form resembled the type of elegant heist seen in Ocean’s Eleven, reports USA Today. According to multiple news outlets, the rough and tough robbers charged into Caesars Atlantic City luxury casino around 6 am, pulled out a pistol and then ran off with “two plastic boxes containing more than $180,000 in cash.” This differs a whole lot from Ocean’s Eleven, in which a team of twelve trained thieves simultaneously robbed three Las Vegas casinos.
Regardless, the $180k casino heist is being investigated by the State Police Casino Gaming Bureau. According to the agency’s website, it was “established in 1988 to enforce all New Jersey criminal statutes within Atlantic City casinos.” The fact that this agency is involved in turn indicates, as the Press of Atlantic City notes, that the heist “happened in a casino-related part of the property.” This means that the heist most likely occurred right on the floor, next to all the blackjack tables and slot machines. This certainly adds a dose of elegance to the story, right?
A lot of questions still need to be answered. For instance, how did the masked gunman manage to get into the casino in the first place? By the same token, how did he manage to get out of the casino and into his car? And why hasn’t any news outlet shared video footage of the event? There certainly should be some, given the intense security protocols that America’s top casinos employ.
The 2010 robbery of the Las Vegas Bellagio casino provides some clues and answers. A thief wearing a motorcycle helmet simply walked into the Bellagio, grabbed $1.5 million in chips from a craps table, and then fled. Just like that! The Los Angeles Times reports that it took the authorities two months to finally catch the robber, Anthony Carleo, and the only reason they were even able to catch him is because he was trying to sell the chips on an online poker forum.
Something similar happened in 2012, when two men waltzed into the exact same casino, pepper-sprayed a card dealer, grabbed $115,000 worth of chips, and tried to skedaddle. However, their mojo fell to pieces when casino workers tackled one of them. He later identified the other thief.
It just goes to show that real-life casino heists are never as glamorous as their fictional movie-theater equivalents. And unlike in the movies, the dice are not likely to land in your favor when you try to pull off a $180k casino heist!
Image via [Google Images]
