Police seek armed man who robbed Bellagio cashier

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Steve Marcus

An exterior view of the Bellagio on Aug. 28. 2016.

Published Tue, Nov 28, 2017 (4:52 p.m.)

Updated Tue, Nov 28, 2017 (10:20 p.m.)

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This man robbed a Bellagio cashier cage on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017.

A Las Vegas Strip resort’s poker cage was robbed Tuesday afternoon and an armed suspect is being sought, according to Metro Police.

Officers responded about 3:45 p.m. to the Bellagio, Metro Capt. John Pelletier said. A man who was armed with a small-frame, black gun robbed a cage before fleeing in a silver Chevrolet Cruze. Police announced late Tuesday they had recovered the car.

The white suspect wore a wig and glasses, and had his face partially masked or bandaged, and he was captured on surveillance images, Pelletier said. Investigators are "comfortable and confident" they have enough information to capture him, Pelletier said.

A person who may have been brought to the casino against their will, and who did not participate in the robbery, was cooperating with police, Pelletier said. The suspect parked at the valet area and fled from there in an unknown location with an unknown amount of cash.

The investigation continued this evening. "Those who commit crimes like this on the Strip will be hunted down and whatever amount of cash he got is not enough to face a lifetime in prison,” Pelletier said.

About the time of the robbery, actor James Woods said on Twitter that he was playing poker at the Bellagio when a man walked up with a gun and robbed a cage about 30 feet away from where he was playing.

“.@Bellagio staff were fantastic. They surrendered the money quietly, so no customers would get hurt. Nobody even realized it was happening. Excellent staff, cool under pressure,” Woods tweeted.

“We are working with Metro as they investigate this incident,” MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio, said on Twitter.

In March, Sebastian Gonzalez was one of four men who wore animal masks during a heist at a high-end jewelry store at the Bellagio, police said. He told investigators that he was threatened by unidentified men who he said had said to him they’d hurt his family if he didn’t participate.

In July 2014, police arrested a suspect they said robbed $45,000 from the Bellagio, and spent a “wild night on the town.”

In 2010, Anthony Carleo, known as the “biker bandit,” robbed about $1.5 million in casino chips at gunpoint and ran out of the Bellagio wearing a motorcycle helmet.

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