Palmdale Man Wanted For Allegedly Stealing $1.6M In Casino Chips

PALMDALE (CBSLA.com) — A Palmdale man is wanted for allegedly stealing $1.6 million in casino chips in Las Vegas.

The incident happened shortly after 6 a.m. on Oct. 10 at the Venetian resort.

Las Vegas police said Akingide Cole, 31, gained access into a closed area of the casino and removed the chips.

"He managed to pry open the lock on the chip container and then made off with a lot of high denomination chips," said Robert Duvall from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

Cole didn't use a weapon and there was no confrontation with hotel employees, according to officials.

The casino heist is one of several over the past few years.

Anthony Carleo will spend up to 11 years in prison for stealing $1.5 million in chips at the Bellagio in 2010.

Carleo was arrested when he tried to redeem a $25,000 chip.

Officials said Cole may be caught in the same way since high denomination chips are tracked and the only way to redeem them is at the hotel.

Cole's friends and neighbors in Palmdale told KCAL9's Andrea Fujii that the suspect was in a desperate situation.

"He's been looking for work for months and he hasn't been successful with it," said Gloria Gowen.

Peter Cook, Cole's former neighbor, said the suspect was always cordial.

"He was very polite. I guess he got married and had a wife and a child," he said.