HELMETED GUNMAN WALKS INTO THE BELLAGIO HOTEL & ROBS THEM OF $1.5 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF CHIPS!

Police in Las Vegas are searching for a brazen helmeted gunman who strode into a casino on Tuesday and swiped $1.5 million worth of casino chips, all in a matter of minutes.
The thief, captured on video wearing a black motorcycle helmet with the visor pulled down and black gloves, rode up to the Bellagio casino and parked his bike outside at about 3:50 a.m..

Walking up to a craps table, he pulled a handgun, told everyone to freeze and then grabbed a boxful of chips before jogging back to his bike and speeding away, police said.

The robbery was eerily similar to another that took place last week at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino, about 20 minutes away from the Bellagio.

In that robbery, a man in a motorcycle helmet took a little less than $20,000 in cash from a poker tournament room.

Police did not say whether the two robberies were connected. The thief in the Suncoast robbery wore a silver helmet, CNN reported.

Casino officials said the thief at the Bellagio took chips that ranged in value from $100 to $25,000. The chips are not the same as cash, though, and are unique to the Bellagio casino.

The thief will likely have a hard time redeeming his booty, especially the higher-value chips.

"The industry has some safeguards in place that make that ... extremely difficult," Las Vegas Police spokesman Lt. Clint Nichols said.

Las Vegas police said there have been 10 casino robberies in 2010, one more than in 2009.



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