Alleged Casino Robber Discusses Crime in Jailhouse Interview
Posted: May 23, 2012
Mike Belton
LAS VEGAS - Twenty-four-year-old Mike Belton wishes he would have stayed home in Nuevo, California.
"I answered an ad on Craigslist for a repo job, and the guy gets all of us out here to Vegas - the first trip. Turns out, it's not a repo job. It's more of a theft job, taking chips from the casino," he said.
There were no cars to repossess, just the Bellagio to rob. The plan was to walk to a random blackjack table at the Bellagio, pepper spray everyone, grab high-dollar chips, run out, dump their disguises and meet at Mandalay Bay to divide the loot. After three trips to Las Vegas to plan the heist, Belton thought crime would pay, and he would get his share.
"Minimum $25,000. The plan was to go for white chips, which are $5,000 chips," he said. "Twenty percent of whatever we grabbed."
This gamble was not a safe bet. Saturday night, Belton walked into the Bellagio with a guy he met the day before named Carlos.
"It just happened real quick," Belton said. "It was all a blur to me once I actually got up to the table."
Carlos unleashed pepper spray on a blackjack table and ran out of the casino, getting away. Belton grabbed $115,000 in chips.
"I got hit real quick right when I touched the chips," Belton said.
Security tackled him to the casino floor, causing his disguise to fall apart. "I had a black wig with movie makeup," he said.
Belton tried to fight, but eventually gave up. Now sitting in jail, Belton explains why he went through with a risky robbery in a packed casino loaded with cameras.
"I got both of my grandparents in the hospital. My aunt's not moving around too good. She's on heart medication, so I kinda' got to take care of things at the house. So, the money looked real good," he said. "The stupidest thing I'll ever do."
Police are still searching for at least two other suspects - Carlos, the pepper sprayer who got away and a North Hollywood, California man who apparently posted the Craigslist ad and reserved Belton's hotel room at Mandalay Bay.
Belton says he wants both of them behind bars.
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