Last December’s deadly terror attack in San Bernardino, California by a husband and wife jihadi team had law enforcement around the country on edge. One month after that bloody assault, police and the FBI responded to an odd incursion on the Las Vegas Strip, and the suspects were once again a male-female duo.

The unnerving incident is spelled out in a report obtained by the I-Team. Police were notified just before 9:30 p.m. on January 2nd. Tourists who were huddled around a craps machine inside the Cromwell hotel-casino gaming area were suddenly overcome by gas or fumes.



“All of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe,” said tourist Melissa Waligora. “I looked at my husband, and he was coughing, ‘I can’t breathe. I’m out of here,’ and ran out the door.”

Melissa’s friend, who asked to remain anonymous, was also affected.

“It felt like pins were in my lungs. I thought, no, someone is spraying this so everyone will run out,” the friend said.

Cromwell security responded quickly, but the mystery substance overcame at least one of the security detail.

“The girl that was there, one of the security guards there, was hospitalized. The events got her,” Waligora’s friend said.

Security officer Takiya Nelson is named in the report, but declined to speak with the I-Team. She was treated at Sunrise Hospital then left against the advice of doctors. At least five people were victimized.

“We got calls come out on the radio (in) reference to security guards being sick,” said Metro Police Sgt. Mike Ford. “It kept escalating. I sent my team out to secure the area and see what was going on.

Sgt. Ford’s Strip detective team was dispatched to take control of the scene and figure out what happened. Like all of the officers who work the Strip, the team is always on the lookout for possible terrorists, because of previous incidents in which suspected jihadists have been spotted in Las Vegas monitoring possible targets.

After reviewing the Cromwell’s surveillance cameras, police focused on two people who loitered in the area of the gas attack just before victims were overcome. Ford and others wondered if this may have been a dry run to see how police and security might respond to an attack. The biggest clue was what the suspects did next.

“They exited the glass doors onto Flamingo. Right away, the male comes back inside. His head was wrapped in a scarf covering his mouth. So when he peeked back inside, it appeared he was trying to cover his own nose and mouth for breathing risk,” Sgt. Ford said.

Using cameras posted along the Strip, police followed the suspects’ movements and found them two hours later huddled in a McDonald’s near Harrah’s. They were searched and questioned, but authorities found no gas canisters.

The male, whose outfit looked like a cross between an ISIS fighter and a Rastafarian, is named Arnold Lane. He has a long criminal record and is better known by his rapper name Yallway Allahalla.

His music videos are politically charged, but don’t show any support for terrorism. His companion Korinna Camberos also has a criminal record, but nothing violent.

The pair stayed in a motel under assumed names the night before the incident. Police checked, but found no evidence of pepper spray or tear gas.

“We don’t know if they were testing or not. I think that’s what you’re driving at,” Metro Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo said.

Sheriff Lombardo said, although there are no known terror links to the suspects, he was encouraged by how officers and private security responded. The big unanswered question is, what, if anything, might have been prevented?

“I think we had a very robust response to that, and security did exactly what we’ve asked them to do in those kinds of situations. We don’t know if that will have a result two years from now because of what they did,” Lombardo said.

The visitors who were gassed say they thought whoever released the gas might have wanted to get the tourists away from the machines, so the machines could be emptied. They say they don’t regret getting out of the building.

“I didn’t care,” Waligora said. “First thing that came into my head was someone is pulling some (expletive). I needed to get out of there and live to see another day.”

The I-Team tried to reach Arnold Lane and Korinna Camberos, but did not get a response. The Cromwell declined to comment.

In addition to Metro detectives, the counterterrorism team came to the scene, along with the armor unit and the FBI.

No charges were filed, other than for drug paraphernalia found on the female suspect. The public never heard a peep about the incident until now. Metro Police and the FBI say they are still determining if this was a set-up for a larger attack, a creative criminal plot or merely a dirty trick.

Sgt. Mike Ford died of an unrelated health issue a week after interviewing with the I-Team.