Man who grabbed casino chips nominated for Nevada ‘black book’

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The security camera surveillance recording is convincing.

A man with a yellow ball cap casually walks up to a blackjack table at Aria and in one swift motion scoops up a handful of casino chips from the tray as stunned onlookers and the table’s dealer watch as he bolts away.

The man who grabbed the chips eventually was identified as Neal Ahmed Hearne, who was arrested and convicted of a felony theft in January 2018.

Senior Deputy Attorney General John Michela told the Nevada Gaming Control Board Wednesday that Hearne did the same thing at the Silverton and at 13 other Clark County casino properties — and for that reason should be banned from ever entering a Nevada casino.

After a 15-minute hearing, the board voted unanimously to recommend that Hearne become the 37th person placed on Nevada’s List of Excluded Persons, commonly referred to as the state’s “black book.”

In another video Michela presented, the man later identified as Hearne was hanging around a table when a player left his seat. After the player walked off, Hearne grabbed his chips and dashed away.

“Sometimes reading the documents is one thing, but seeing it actually happen …” said Gaming Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick.

“It’s clearly obvious that Mr. Hearne’s criminal actions are not only brazen — that he would do this right in the middle of a casino floor — but his criminal activities are prolific.”

Michela said Hearne fit three criteria for inclusion on the list including having a prior felony conviction, having a conviction of a crime of moral turpitude and receiving a judicial order banning him from casinos. Any one of those three factors are enough for consideration of a permanent ban from the state’s major casinos.

Board member George Assad said banning Hearne from casinos was important because he thought the outcome of the chip grab could have been worse.

“To me, this is a no-brainer, a slam dunk,” Assad said. “You can’t have people running around doing these kinds of things. It not only brings the situation into focus with regard to the dangerousness of it, but you know, a security guard could have gone after him, who knows if he would have had a weapon and there be some kind of an exchange, a shooting in the casino. It’s just not only brazen, but it’s very dangerous to have this kind of theft take place.”

Now that the Control Board has formally nominated Hearne to the list, he’ll be notified of his options to fight exclusion in a formal hearing before the Nevada Gaming Commission, which has the final say on his addition to the list.

Last month, commissioners voted unanimously to add Mississippi resident Shaun Joseph Benward to the list.

Benward became the 36th person added to the list after commissioners determined that he and an accomplice distracted roulette dealers during games and convinced dealers that they did not place his bets as instructed.