Las Vegas Metro Police had to lock down the Bellagio Casino and its parking lot for at least an hour early Saturday morning after burglars smashed their way into the high-end jewelry store in the building. Initially, the police thought there had been gunfire, but that turned out not to be the case and no one was injured in the incident.
As reported by the New York Daily News, videos and photos hit social media early in the morning showing police officers in tactical gear heading into the Bellagio Casino just before midnight. Their report said several messages had come in via Twitter of an active shooter.
Even though this had turned out to not be the case, police decided it was best to lock down areas of the building. According to the police, the incident involved three suspects breaking into the jewelry store, which had been closed for the night. They smashed through the glass and then proceeded to steal various valuable items from the store. According to Lt. Carlos Hank, police arrived on the scene at around 12:50 a.m.
Getaway car wouldn’t start in Bellagio parking lot
Hank said the suspects had run to the parking garage but that their vehicle would not start. He said they left the garage on foot, attempting to later steal a car from someone at an undisclosed location. The suspects were unsuccessful and ended up in custody.
According to Hank, several people have been detained for questioning but he couldn’t at that stage confirm whether any of them had been arrested.
Jewelry heist suspect wearing a pig mask
Reportedly one of those suspects was wearing a pig mask. As reported by The Las Vegas Sun, a Bellagio patron posted an image on Twitter of one of the suspects, after the robbery occurred, with the caption saying they had witnessed an armed robber, wearing a pig mask and carrying a sledgehammer, standing outside the Rolex Store.
Literally just witnessed an armed robber in a pig mask at a Rolex store at the Bellagio & then his arrest #bellagio #vegas #rolex #robbery pic.twitter.com/m53T6bHS2z
— Kira (@Kir_kamil) March 25, 2017
According to Hank, he had heard reports of witnesses seeing the man in a pig mask but said police could not confirm this was authentic without seeing it on official surveillance images.
