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... In case you haven't heard about this...Judge's son arrested in Bellagio robbery - News - ReviewJournal.com
... Interesting story right? Can you believe some guy had the guts to rob a giant casino and that he was caught by selling some of the chips to an undercover police officer?.. But that has nothing to do with why I think this story in interesting... It's the delinquent, Anthony "Tony" Carleo (AKA Anthony Assad), that peaks my interest.
Mr. Carleo and I attended Roncalli Middle School and Pueblo South High School together. We didn't interact a whole lot, but here are a few memorable instances of our paths crossing:
- 8th Grade U.S. History (The only class we had together): in order to impress some of the more "popular" kids, Tony poured itching powder down my back...
- Sophomore Year of High School - While sledding with some friends in the park, Tony drove through the middle of the park in his car, not watching who else was around (thank goodness we moved).
- Junior Year of High School - Tony drove around a dude who was looking to fight me even though Tony had nothing to do with anything...
Tony was always trying to fit in with the "popular" crowd, even though I think only some of that crowd actually appreciated his antics (the most popular antic being "the flying squirrel", which was him whipping out his scrotum and stretching the skin in certain ways). Either way, Tony went on to be voted our "Class Clown" (which has a history of going to a "jackass" vs. an actual funnyman) and would graduate from high school. That's about the extent of what has happened between him and I and really the only interaction.
Now that you know my initial impression of Mr. Carleo, I can now continue to tell you about my thoughts on the whole burglary. The reason I want to even discuss this is based on the reactions I saw on facebook. Some were making fun of Tony, others were sympathetic. Lots of people were just surprised by the whole thing and had no other reaction. I think you can imagine mine, but I wanted to blog about them a bit in more detail. So let's look at the case a little more.- First of all, this has to be one of the gutsiest burglaries ever. There have been multiple movies on how hard it is to steal from a casino, including the "Ocean" series and even "The Hangover" (Alan card counting took three other people). But then there was this guy who walked in a casino with a gun and a bike helmet and stole the equivalent of 1.5 million dollars... Regardless of what you think, I'm sure this will cause a re-evaluation of casino security.
- Second, he obviously didn't do his research. In fact, I don't even think he thought it through. Personally, I think he went in looking for cash and didn't have the opportunity so he took what he could get (three minutes in and out, not a lot to time to think). I think Tony took what was available, and I think the dealers he stole from knew to give the higher value, more easily traceable chips.
- The chips he stole aren't really worth anything, but he could sell them (how he got caught). To put the value in perspective, if Tony sold the chips 10 cents to the dollar, they would be worth $150,000, and that's assuming they were all $25,000 chips.
- Regardless, I can't see this burglary being a case of real desperation. You don't go into one of the biggest casinos in Vegas (and maybe the world) if your desperate for what you can get. You don't steal 1.5 million dollars worth of chips if you’re looking for tuition money. I don't even think you steal that kind of money for a drug addiction. Maybe he was in debt to some real bad people, but I have trouble believing that considering he was living in a gated home with his judge father (makes me wonder if he thought his dad could help if he did get caught).
- I don't think Tony committed the first burglary at the Suncoast casino. First of all, the perpetrators in those incidents look different. Just look at the helmets. They appear different, and not just in color. The first incident happened at a casino I've never heard of, was planned for cash, and not even that much. Tony's incident was at a world famous casino he apparently loved (See Money, gambling and the Bellagio: Anthony Carleo, this was your life. - News - ReviewJournal.com), wasn't very well planned, and had multiple chips worth more than the total money stolen in the first crime. I think Tony is a copycat criminal, thinking he would get off scott free when they caught the other/original burglar. Instead, it looks like he might have to pay for a crime he didn't commit (in my opinion).
- Speaking of committing crimes, I don't know if there is actually any proof the robber was him. Yes, I think the video of the criminal running away from the crime scene looks like him, but I can't prove that (and I dunno if anyone can). He was caught selling the stolen chips, so he's at least involved with actual criminal (if it's not him) to some degree (especially with $900,000 in his possession and $1.2 million accounted for), but there's no proof he's the actual burglar until they find the helmet, gun, or get a confession.
