Las Vegas Sting: Operation Chutzpah

This is the first in a series of true stories from my 21 years of  as a law enforcement officer for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department:

In the early morning hours on Saturday, July 17, 1985, my fellow police officers and federal agents initiated “Operation Chutzpah”. It was a five-month “sting” that targeted reputed organized crime figures and businesses involved in credit card fraud, possession of stolen property and counterfeiting. I was assigned to the home of Blitzstein at 2675 Martin Court in Las Vegas. As we made entry, we took Blitzstein and his 29-year-old son Richard, into custody for state and federal charges.

Blitzstein was charged with conspiracy to use counterfeit credit cards and conspiracy to receive stolen federal property.

The photo was taken by a photojournalist working for the Las Vegas Review-Journal who found out about the covert operation and captured me taking “Herbie” Blitzstein out in handcuffs. The photo went out on the AP wire. My brother-in-law, an attorney in Chicago, called me the next day and told me I had humiliated this well known mobster with that picture.