Tony Carleo’s losing streak began in Colorado.
The Pueblo South High graduate’s luck ran out this week when he was arrested by undercover Las Vegas police officers at the casino where he is accused of stealing $1.5 million in chips Dec. 14.
The bold heist at the Bellagio hotel, an icon of splendor on the Las Vegas Strip, has been a subject of fascination since video of a motorcycle-helmet- wearing bandit went viral on the Internet.
Undercover officers reportedly met with Carleo, 29, on a ruse to buy the chips. Authorities say they recovered $900,000 worth of them.
According to police, during at least one week late last month, Carleo stayed in the same resort that he had robbed, enjoying meals, drinks and rooms that the casino bestowed on the “high roller.”
Police said Carleo lost about $105,000 at the resort in the month after the robbery, including $73,000 on New Year’s Eve.
Elevating the crime’s profile even higher is that Carleo is the son of Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad.
“It goes without saying that as a father, I am devastated and heartbroken to see my son arrested under these circumstances, as is the rest of his family,” Assad said in a written statement.
Police said Thursday that Carleo is also a suspect in a drug-trafficking case.
Public records show Carleo changed his last name to Assad when he was 18, but he has used both names interchangeably.
He had enrolled at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and bragged about his gambling exploits on his Facebook page.
Records show his attempts to be a real-estate broker in Pueblo ended in bankruptcy in 2009 and foreclosure on four properties in 2008. He listed assets of $212,000, including a 40-caliber pistol and a $4,000 Jet Ski, against liabilities of $356,000.
Creditors included mortgage lenders and Playboy magazine subscription services. Carleo closed his business DJ Tony Mic.
He indicated he had receiving $19,000 from his father over the previous two years and had netted just $552 as a real-estate broker in two years and less than $7,000 in roofing sales.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reported that Carleo was a guest at the Bellagio when a man in a motorcycle helmet brandished a pistol at the craps table where about 10 people were playing, collected a cache of chips worth $100 to $25,000 each and ran. Within three minutes of entering the casino, he had stolen the chips and vanished.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
