Casino suspect nabbed at scene of crime

LAS VEGAS – The bankrupt son of a Las Vegas judge followed a crude holdup at a posh casino by racking up hundreds of thousands in gambling losses and spending a week like a high roller, then getting caught after trying to hawk his stolen chips online to poker players, police said Thursday.

An arrest report for the helmeted bandit, who ran out of the Bellagio hotel-casino with $1.5 million in chips during a gunpoint heist Dec. 14, said Anthony M. Carleo lost about $105,000 at the resort over the next month – including $73,000 on New Year’s Eve. He stayed at least one week at the resort in late January, enjoying meals, drinks and rooms furnished by the casino.

“He likes to gamble,” Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Steiber said as he described how Carleo, 29, was nabbed late Wednesday on the same casino floor from where the chips came. Carleo wasn’t armed and offered no resistance.

Police recovered $900,000 in chips of different types – the ones stolen ranged from $100 to $25,000 – and can account for $1.2 million, Steiber said.

Carleo’s father, Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad, issued a statement saying he and his family were “devastated and heartbroken to see my son arrested under these circumstances.”

Bail was set at $15,000 on armed robbery and burglary charges.