SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The suspect arrested in an armed robbery at the Bellagio casino was identified late Tuesday as a Kansas man with a criminal record who allegedly celebrated after the heist with prostitutes and a spending spree on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Clark County Detention Center’s website identified him as Scott A. Carmitchel, 34. He was being held on $84,000 bail and was due to appear in court Wednesday to face charges of battery, grand larceny, burglary and robbery with a deadly weapon.
Detectives say he robbed a casino cashier of $43,500 at gunpoint Friday night and later paid prostitutes at another hotel with money still bound in Bellagio wrappers before he was arrested Saturday night. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
Kansas Department of Corrections records show Scott Alan Carmitchel, 34, served time for battery against a law officer and a robbery in 1998, and he was sent to prison most recently a year ago for making a criminal threat. Formerly of Overland Park, Kansas, he was paroled in December. The department listed him as “absconded” with his whereabouts unknown as of May 29.
Detectives in Las Vegas said the man they previously identified only as “John Doe” spent about $10,000 on a high-end shopping spree after claiming he found a black bag full of cash in the Bellagio parking lot. They said he told them his name was Scott Rice, of Kansas, but he had no identification and they suspected that was a false name.
Las Vegas police spelled his last name “Carmitchell” on a booking photo released late Tuesday. Kansas authorities have spelled it both ways but list his “true” name with just one ‘L,’ and list the other spelling as an alias.
Corrections officials in Las Vegas had to forcibly hold his head steady for the mug shot because he “has refused to cooperate in any way with the investigation and was combative with officers throughout the booking process,” Officer Larry Hadfield said in a statement.
The arrest came after investigators were tipped by a tourist from Texas who said he became suspicious after a man paid the tourist $300 to rent him a $405 room at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Police later detained four prostitutes who left the room, two carrying wads of cash with Bellagio labels. They told police the man was acting erratic, paranoid and delusional, according to a police report.
Investigators said the suspect acknowledged his picture was on Bellagio surveillance tape, but he denied that he committed the robbery. He told them he went to the casino but didn’t remember what happened, an arrest report states.
Police eventually searched the room and found $10,000 in cash along with a BB gun that matched the description of the weapon used during the robbery.
They also said they found a shirt they believe was worn by the robber, a $1,800 pair of black Louis Vuitton shoes, and an $800 Louis Vuitton belt, along with recent shopping receipts.
About half the money taken remained unaccounted for, the police report said.
The robbery occurred about 8:30 p.m. Friday when a man walked up to a Bellagio cashier’s cage, pulled a gun from a backpack and demanded money from a clerk, who later told police she feared she would die if she didn’t listen to the robber.
Detectives said Monday that they believe the same man who robbed the Bellagio also robbed a south Las Vegas City National Bank on July 22. The same type of BB gun, with an orange tip on the barrel, was used in both holdups, police said.
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Sonner reported from Reno.
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