A husband and wife from Las Vegas were arrested late last week, charged with the brazen robbery of $625,569 in cash and casino chips from the Primm Valley Resort & Casino.
Lydia Salmen, 70, and her husband, John Salmen, 63, stand accused of theft and burglary relating to the July 18 incident at the casino in Primm, Nevada.
The arrest report was only leaked to the media this week. Police say they found $625,000 in cash and $27,000 in casino chips after the Friday, June 19 raid on the couple’s Las Vegas home.
While conducting the arrest in the Desert Shores neighborhood of northwest Las Vegas, officers also found evidence of a possible motive for the crime. Writing in a notepad from one of the accused said that they were in tough financial straits after insurance failed to cover costly medical bills totaling $12,000.
“We thank the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) for swiftly recovering all but $300 and arresting several people for the theft that occurred at the Primm Valley Casino Resort on July 18,” said Brad Egnor, chief marketing officer for the casino’s owners, Affinity Interactive.
The Incident
The robbery occurred at around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 18. A woman police believe to be Lydia Salman was seen on surveillance cameras climbing through a small hole in the bars of the casino’s cage, which was, at that time, locked up and unattended.
The woman spent about an hour in the cage, collecting cash and casino chips before making a getaway in a Nissan hatchback. Employees returned to the cage at around 6:30. They immediately noticed it was in a state of disarray, with hundreds of thousands in cash missing, and phoned the police.
While combing through surveillance footage, police began to suspect that the woman who committed the robbery had previously visited the casino a month prior.
The Investigation and Arrest
Cops say Lydia Salmen caused a disturbance on the casino floor on June 25, where she was videotaped on bodycam footage by a Las Vegas police officer visiting the casino for an unrelated incident.
Police then tracked the woman’s movements on surveillance footage, revealing she went to a Nissan hatchback in the casino’s car park. This time, investigators were able to obtain clear footage of the license plate.
That led to the raid on the couple’s Las Vegas address, 44 miles from Primm. There, the police found a duffle bag containing $600K in cash, as well as casino chips from Primm Valley. They also found clothes matching the images of those worn by the woman they believe to be Lydia Salmen when she visited the casino the month prior to the burglary.
As a category D felony in Nevada, the minimum sentence under state law if convicted for burglary of a business is one year in prison, with up to five years considered on a first offense.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
