Casino Attack Caught on Video

A thief casually and blatantly walked out of Brisbane's Treasury Casino June 16 around 5:00 pm. The thief had a smile on his face as he exited the premises after viciously attacking and robbing a woman as she played poker.

Photos grabbed from the casino's surveillance camera showed how the attack took place. Security officers at the Brisbane Treasury Casino have labeled the scene as the most brazen and most cowardly attack they have ever witnessed.

Footage from the cameras showed a well-dressed man entering the poker room and glancing around for a potential victim. The man found his middle-aged female target, walked up to her and suddenly threw her viciously on the ground, then immediately steals hundreds of dollars from her purse. The woman, stunned, did not attempt to go after the suspect as she lay shocked on the floor. The man then walked out of the building, as if blending in with the rest of the crowd as just another casino customer. The thief was able to get away from the scene at the time of the attack.

Brisbane Treasury Casino head of security Bob Bennett released the footage to The Sunday Mail to help catch the suspect. "We really want to catch this guy. I have never seen anything like this before," Mr Bennett said.

"We try to provide a safe environment for our patrons and for something like this to happen was just shocking for everyone. The victim is a regular here and has been really upset by what happened," he added.

"It was a vicious and violent attack and he didn't exactly set her down on the ground gently. He threw her and she bumped her head off a machine on the way," he furthermore stated.

The camera footage showed the thief who attacked the woman walking slowly to the Elizabeth Street exit and then across the road to the edge of Queens run before finally breaking into a run.

"In my experience I have never seen such a cowardly attack. This has never happened in my time here and I want to make sure it never happens again," Mr Bennett said.

"We know from the footage that the attacker had been in the casino for a few hours before this happened. It looks like it was just an opportunistic crime. He walked past, saw that she had some money and decided to snatch her purse. When she's decided to fight back, he just grabbed her in a bear hug and pulled her off the chair," the security head added. "This is robbery with violence and if anyone has any information they should contact the police."

A police spokesman said that investigations are ongoing at present and the crime is being treated seriously.