Question About Casino Surveillance Video

Not sure where to post this so I posted it here. I am sorry if this is the wrong forum. If posting it some place else would be better please let me know where.

My car was stolen this summer. Twenty days later it was recovered by the California Highway Patrol. It had severe damage so the insurance company totaled it out. As I was going through the car before signing it over to the insurance company I found a cash out voucher from a casino about 40 miles from where the car was stolen.

I figure the car thief took the car to the casino and gambled. And knowing casinos have video cameras everywhere I believe there should be video of the thief driving the car into the casino and parking it. That would be enough for a felony possession of a stolen vehicle charge and most likely conviction.

My question is do casinos have cameras at the entrances that can read license plates? If so, do they record that in a database so a license plate number could be looked up? What about surveillance video cameras in the parking lots? I vaguely remember reading a few years ago about a crime that occurred in a local casino in the parking lot and the casino had video of it. Also, how effective are the surveillance cameras at night? Th cash out voucher has a time stamp of 3:25 in the morning.

I sent a photo of the cash out voucher to the police and they didn’t even bother responding. I reported the car stolen to the police the day it was stolen and the case is still officially open but the reality is they don’t investigate stolen cars unless it is part of a larger crime like murder.

Thank you for any help or advice you could provide to me to put the car thief behind bars for this crime.

Quote: DoubleDeuce

My question is do casinos have cameras at the entrances that can read license plates?

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It depends on the property. Some will, some won't.

If you contact the casino, explain that someone stole your car and are wondering if surveillance has any video of it, they may be able to help you.

Or not.

Oh. lol. I thought the post was going to be about how you were thinking of cashing the voucher.

Uh. Howw much?

Anyway, legally speaking, the only way that video (assuming the cameras were on that particular machine at that moment the slip was generated) is going to get viewed in this situation is by law enforcement request. Trying to get the police to ask for more video than just the video of that moment, to ask for video of the parking lot, and so on, is even more of a long shot for this particular non violent property crime. Plus only law enforcement is going to be able to force the casino to reveal the identity of whoever got that slip, assuming the casino is dealing with a known player playing with a player card. In some situations a law enforcement request isn't even enough - a search warrant is needed.

I wasn't even thinking about ID off the floor surveillance.
You've got a day; you've got a clue about morning/evening/night; maybe their exterior cameras caught something; maybe they'll share it.

Worst case: you waste a few phone calls.

Thanks for the responses. Regarding the voucher the weird thing is it was for only 2 cents. Who saves a cashout voucher for 2 cents? But it gets weirder. I sent a picture of the cashout voucher to the casino the day I found it to see if they could tell me anything. I waited a few days and never heard anything so I called and was told the voucher belonged to an elderly woman. That seems weird along with the voucher having a time of 3:25 AM. My guess is that the thief and his buddies were going around the casino looking for anything of possible value after they lost their money gambling and picked up a bunch of cashout vouchers including this worthless one.

Since the cops will do nothing and the casino has cooperated so far, I sent the casino an email with the details of the car theft and photos of my car including one with the license plate number. I also told them I would send them a copy of the registration and the police report to prove it is my car and it was stolen.

I also told them I sent a picture of the cashout voucher to the police and they haven’t bothered responding. (That was over a couple weeks ago.) I told them the police don’t investigate stolen cars unless it is part of a larger crime like murder so the cooperation of the casino is my only hope for justice in this case.

I also sent the casino a picture of the suspected thief. It turns out a day after the date on the cashout voucher the car was involved in a chase with the police but the driver got away. There was a passenger in the car who was apprehended but not charged with anything. He identified the driver who it turns out has been convicted of car theft 6 times. The police didn’t consider his statement enough to press charges. I got the driver’s name and found his mug shot and sent it to the casino along with the other information. Do the casinos have facial recognition software? I would think they do.

So far I all I know is that the casino got what I sent them and they said they will get back to me but I have heard nothing yet. I just want to know what are the odds they would have the video I need. I think if the odds are high I could get my city council member to ask the police to investigate even if the casino does not cooperate further with me.

If it were I, I'd hire a private investigator to handle all this. If it weren't important enough to me to pay someone to do it for me, I'd think it's not important enough to pursue at all.

I get that you want the bad guy off the street, but your evidence may turn out to be ignored by the police unless you handle all this properly.

Your alternate route of trying to push the police to do their job sounds more like something I would do on my own, though.

Give it up. Dude already in jail on another charge or soon will be. God forbid they arrest him and press charges, your nightmare will start then as you are the one who found the voucher and who owns the car. Or did you lend it to the defendant?



The legal aid attorney will issue a summons for you. When you show up a new court date will be set. At that next date the attorney will request a postponement for some reason. He and prosecutor willl agree on the next date. No input from you. So cancel your vacation plans for that week.

Defendant has been convicted 6 times already.let the next car owner go to court again and again without pay. Thief will probably get probation or time served. Get on with your life,

Quote: DoubleDeuce

Who saves a cashout voucher for 2 cents?

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Who stands in line to cashout a 2 cent voucher?
I doubt I'd boost a car to trash it in, but...

Quote: DoubleDeuce

Thanks for the responses. Regarding the voucher the weird thing is it was for only 2 cents. Who saves a cashout voucher for 2 cents? But it gets weirder. I sent a picture of the cashout voucher to the casino the day I found it to see if they could tell me anything. I waited a few days and never heard anything so I called and was told the voucher belonged to an elderly woman. That seems weird along with the voucher having a time of 3:25 AM. My guess is that the thief and his buddies were going around the casino looking for anything of possible value after they lost their money gambling and picked up a bunch of cashout vouchers including this worthless one.

Since the cops will do nothing and the casino has cooperated so far, I sent the casino an email with the details of the car theft and photos of my car including one with the license plate number. I also told them I would send them a copy of the registration and the police report to prove it is my car and it was stolen.

I also told them I sent a picture of the cashout voucher to the police and they haven’t bothered responding. (That was over a couple weeks ago.) I told them the police don’t investigate stolen cars unless it is part of a larger crime like murder so the cooperation of the casino is my only hope for justice in this case.

I also sent the casino a picture of the suspected thief. It turns out a day after the date on the cashout voucher the car was involved in a chase with the police but the driver got away. There was a passenger in the car who was apprehended but not charged with anything. He identified the driver who it turns out has been convicted of car theft 6 times. The police didn’t consider his statement enough to press charges. I got the driver’s name and found his mug shot and sent it to the casino along with the other information. Do the casinos have facial recognition software? I would think they do.

So far I all I know is that the casino got what I sent them and they said they will get back to me but I have heard nothing yet. I just want to know what are the odds they would have the video I need. I think if the odds are high I could get my city council member to ask the police to investigate even if the casino does not cooperate further with me.

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I understand you are looking for all evidence but if the police have the guys name from a car chase then what do you need the casino surveillance video for?

It will just prove what the police already know. Identity of thief, possession of your car

It seems to me the police don't want to waste their time seeking evidence to prove what they already know.

Let them do their job. The wheels of justice move slowly. It won't surprise me if fifteen months from now you get a suspicious letter from a court saying you have a court date as a victim statement in a trial.

"Let them do their job. The wheels of justice move slowly. It won't surprise me if fifteen months from now you get a suspicious letter from a court saying you have a court date as a victim statement in a trial."

Let them do their job? That's the problem. They are not going to do their job.

They told me they don't investigate stolen cars unless it's part of a larger crime like murder. They made it clear they are not going to press charges with what they have so far which is just the statement of the passenger and they said that is not enough to bring charges. That makes no sense to me but that's what they said. And they made it clear they are not going to investigate the case and they are not going to contact the casino.

If the casino could tell me they have video of the thief with my car I could relay that to the police and if the police still did nothing I could contact my city council as the police chief reports to them.

Quote: DoubleDeuce

"Let them do their job. The wheels of justice move slowly. It won't surprise me if fifteen months from now you get a suspicious letter from a court saying you have a court date as a victim statement in a trial."

Let them do their job? That's the problem. They are not going to do their job.

They told me they don't investigate stolen cars unless it's part of a larger crime like murder. They made it clear they are not going to press charges with what they have so far which is just the statement of the passenger and they said that is not enough to bring charges. That makes no sense to me but that's what they said. And they made it clear they are not going to investigate the case and they are not going to contact the casino.

If the casino could tell me they have video of the thief with my car I could relay that to the police and if the police still did nothing I could contact my city council as the police chief reports to them.

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If your goal is to force an investigation through your city council you already have enough.

There is a police report already generated. Use that to ask your city council member why nothing is being done.

Quote: MDawg

Anyway, legally speaking, the only way that video (assuming the cameras were on that particular machine at that moment the slip was generated) is going to get viewed in this situation is by law enforcement request. Trying to get the police to ask for more video than just the video of that moment, to ask for video of the parking lot, and so on, is even more of a long shot for this particular non violent property crime. Plus only law enforcement is going to be able to force the casino to reveal the identity of whoever got that slip, assuming the casino is dealing with a known player playing with a player card. In some situations a law enforcement request isn't even enough - a search warrant is needed.

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Most cases of video requests or any other information would take a search warrant yes, but also a prosecutors or magistrates request might suffice in matters that do not involve major crime or situations where human life might be at jeopardy. Such as a kidnapping, missing person, elderly person disappeared, etc., where most all casinos would work expeditiously with law enforcement.

Don't let them do their job. As I'm ex-law enforcement myself, I can tell you most cops are lazy and can't be bothered chasing down crimes they need to work at. Sad, but true.
Whilst you may be doing some of what should be their work, you MAY get somewhere in the end. You also MAY not.