Incredible footage shows brazen armed robber being shot dead by four cops as he tries to hold up a car outside the Bellagio seconds after robbing the hotel’s casino poker cage
Brazen armed robber is shot dead by four cops as he tries to hold up a car outside the Bellagio seconds after robbing the hotel’s casino poker cage
Michael Charles Cohen has been identified as the armed suspect who demanded money from cashiers in a Bellagio poker room
Video shows the 49–year-old career criminal trying to carjack a vehicle in a black Mercedes before officers realize what he is doing
Cohen was approached by four cops who noticed the carjack attempt, but he shot at the officers hitting one in the chest before he was shot in the head by officers
Cohen died on Saturday while the officer he struck was saved by his bulletproof vest, according to a police spokesperson
Social media postings by Gamblers in the casino at the time showed patrons appeared to be oblivious to the robbery and shootout
Footage shows alleged robber Michael Charles Cohen to force his way into a woman’s Mercedes sedan in front of the Bellagio on the night Friday, Feb, 15
Shocking footage shows the moment a brazen armed robber tries to carjack a Mercedes before being gunned down by police in a shootout at the Bellagio on Friday.
A man later identified as Michael Charles Cohen is seen leaving the Las Vegas hotel and casino and accosting a woman driving a black Mercedes just before the shootout took place around 9.45pm.
Watch surveillance footage captures Bellagio Casino carjacker
Four cops notice the commotion and rush over to stop the would be carjacker. He turns and starts firing at the policemen
Four police officers notice the commotion and rush over to Cohen, who fires at them, hitting an officer in the chest.
‘This could have been very tragic for our officers, as well as citizens within our community, or that lady who was in that car,’ Charles Hank, Assistant Sheriff, explained in a press conference.
‘Imagine had someone been in the other car, it could have been an unfortunate event.’
Prior to the attempted carjacking, Cohen had tried to get away in a white vehicle but he couldn’t find the keys for it.
Police believe 49-year-old Michael Charles Cohen is also responsible for a Bellagio robbery in 2017. The suspect in the 2017 heist wore a disguise consisting of a black beanie, jacket and glasses, same as the jacker wore on Friday.
Cohen is a felon, having been convicted of two counts of bank robbery in 1999 and two more counts in 2008. He had been previously arrested for bank robbery, kidnapping, carjacking, possession of narcotics paraphernalia, possession of stolen property and a plethora of traffic charges.
In the 2017 robbery, the thief approached a poker cage and demanded money from the employee.
Police believe Michael Cohen is responsible for the Bellagio Casino cage robberies in 2017 [right] and last week [left]. Similar disguises were used in both thefts
On Friday Cohen had walked into the Vegas casino on Friday and robbed the poker cage at gunpoint. He then fled out of the north entrance with cash and casino chips.
Unfortunately for the robber, the Bellagio Hotel & Casino was already crawling with police that night, as they were investigating an unrelated missing child case.
Officers caught up with the suspect outside in the valet lot where he was attempting to steal a vehicle.
Prior to the attempted Mercedes carjacking, Cohen had tried to steal a white BMW but he didn’t find the keys in the ignition of the open car
The officers told him to get on the ground, but he refused. The suspect shot one round with a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380, police say, before he was shot in the head.
‘The officer had his bulletproof vest on, which probably saved his life,’ Capt. Nichole Splinter of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said during a briefing.
Cohen and the injured officer were taken to the hospital where the wounded casino robber was initially in critical condition.
Cohen’s death was confirmed by a police spokesman, Officer Aden Ocampo Gomez, at around 3am Saturday. The officer who was hit in the vest was treated and released.
The Police displayed the bulletproof vest that saved the officer’s life after the shootout with Cohen
The suspect used this Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380 [photo] in the shooting
Video taken by Twitter user Andrew Badecker shortly after the incident from inside the crowded poker room shows gamblers largely unaware that the robbery and shootout took place as an officer attempts to ask questions of potential witnesses.
‘No one noticed,’ Badecker responds to the Las Vegas uniformed cop trying to take statements from his table.
The cage area in the poker room that was robbed is where the casino cashiers exchange chips and tokens for cash.
‘Going to be a long night at #Bellagio. Poker cage robbed, @LVMPD shot the robber outside, poker room on lockdown,’ user Rick Fuller tweeted with a photo of police tape surrounding the poker room cage and a Las Vegas police officer standing by.

Twitter user Andrew Badecker posted video from the poker room after the robbery incident, but the gamblers in the crowded area apparently hadn’t noticed the commotion
Las Vegas police officers investigate outside of the north valet at the Bellagio after police fired at Cohen in Las Vegas
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