A not-so-elaborate heist was broken up at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas over the weekend shortly after it began.
Armed with pepper spray and disguised by wigs and sunglasses, two men made a bold bid to grab and make off with more than $100,000 worth of casino chips, according to a Las Vegas Sun report.
Bellagio employees foiled the robbery and captured 24-year-old Michael Quinn Belton, of Nuevo, Calif., police said. His alleged accomplice ran from the casino and remained at large Monday.
The botched robbery lasted less than a minute, triggering a brief period of chaos as casino employees and security reacted on a busy Saturday night, said the report.
Belton’s accomplice, described as a white or Hispanic man wearing a white shirt, used the pepper spray on the blackjack dealer and Hauck, temporarily disabling them, according to the report. Meanwhile, Belton grabbed 23 “Flags” — red, white and blue chips each valued at $5,000 — from the table, according to the report.
A casino floor supervisor saw the robbery attempt and grabbed Belton. The two wrestled until casino security officers arrived to help, the report said.
Belton eventually surrendered, and authorities confiscated all 23 stolen chips — valued at $115,000, the report said.
