Woman to be arraigned in casino theft

MINDEN - A 47-year-old Gardnerville woman accused of stealing more than $800,000 from Harrah's Lake Tahoe is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for arraignment on criminal charges of theft.

Patricia Diaz is charged by the Douglas County District Attorney's Office with grand theft, a Category B felony.

She was arrested April 30, 2003, after employees at Caesars Tahoe and Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino Resort became suspicious of a woman cashing in $2,500 worth of Harrah's chips once and sometimes twice a week, according to a State Gaming Control Board affidavit.

That woman turned out to be Diaz' daughter, Christy Liddell.

In addition to the criminal charges, Diaz is a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by Harrah's in November. In that lawsuit, an affidavit from the State Gaming Control Board states Harrah's is entitled to $872,543 for Diaz' alleged crime. The affidavit lists three homes, a boat, three vehicles and $251,000 in an account that Harrah's is seeking to recover.

Diaz owns two homes on Joette Drive and a third in Sparks, on Cathedral Peak Drive, where her son reportedly lives.

Diaz was in court this past week on the civil case to explain why the boat and a 2002 Audi had not been turned over.

Diaz' Tuesday arraignment for grand theft is scheduled after two other arraignment hearings were continued so a restitution amount could be reached.

At an arraignment scheduled in January, District Court Judge David Gamble said he was continuing it "under constraint." He said he would rather "haggle" for 10 minutes about restitution at a future hearing than put it off for another 60 days.

"What burdens the court is having to act like I'm dispensing justice and putting things off for 60 days at a time," he said. "This is what burdens me."

During questioning soon after her arrest, Diaz said that her daughter may have a gambling problem and did not know where she obtained the chips.

Liddell, her daughter, insisted her mother was lying. Officials obtained videotape from the high stakes pit where Diaz worked, allegedly showing her palming chips.

A search warrant of her house revealed that, of 17 clean black pair of pants in a laundry room, 13 pair had tissue paper in the left pocket. That may have been to keep chips from clinking together, according to the affidavit.

Officials found $7,000 in cash and a $36,000 cashiers check in her home.

Contact Maggie O'Neill at mo'neill@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 214.