Lilac Lanes casino manager facing theft charges

The manager of a Spokane casino faces theft charges after his arrest last week and the discovery of nearly $20,000 in proceeds from the World Series of Poker tournaments, a Washington State Gambling Commission agent said.

Commission agents arrested Robert Ramelow, manager of the Classic Rock Casino at Lilac Lanes, 1112 E. Magnesium Road, on April 14 after the casino reported that an envelope containing $960 from the tournament was missing from the cashier’s cage.

The cashier told agents she had given the envelope to Ramelow, said Gary Drumheller, agent in charge of the gambling commission’s eastern region. He said surveillance tapes confirmed that Ramelow left the casino without securing the cash. Later that day, Ramelow returned from playing golf and was questioned by agents who arrested him on suspicion of second-degree theft.

Agents and Spokane County sheriff’s deputies with a warrant searched Ramelow’s vehicle where they recovered $19,706 in cash and a bank deposit bag with “Lilac Lanes” printed on it, as well as several envelopes from different poker tournaments, Drumheller said.

“Management believed the money was being secured either by the armored car company or its own facility,” Drumheller said. “One way or the other, they would have discovered the money was gone.”

Drumheller said the commission will charge Ramelow with first-degree theft, a class B felony.

The theft was apparently the second inside job at the casino in April.

Timothy L. Quaschnick, 28, was arrested on April 11 after $15,000 was stolen from the cashier’s cage that morning. Police say Quaschnick, who was a security officer at Lilac Lanes, had turned off all the security cameras, except the one taping the cage. Most of the money was recovered, police said, and Quaschnick confessed to the theft.