The bizarre episode popped off in January after high roller Kenneth Herold reportedly met masseuse Christina Lafave at a bar in the ultra-upscale Wynn Casino and Hotel at the northern edge of The Strip in Las Vegas.
The Lafave, 25, talked Herold, 66, into ponying up $300 for a private massage in his hotel room. Several hours later, at 3 a.m., Herold noticed his pricey 18K gold Rolex Presidential timepiece was missing and went volcanic on the masseuse.
After questioning Lafave — who denied taking the watch — Herold called hotel security to report the missing watch.
Herold told security he and Lafave returned to his room whereupon he disrobed and got onto a massage table that was in his suite.
He said Lafave asked him to remove his Rolex watch so she could massage his arms, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Herold said he placed the watch on the floor in his line of sight. He said five to seven minutes later, the watch went missing.
After Lafave denied stealing the watch, hotel security called the police. A search of the room failed to turn up the watch, and police interrogated Lafave. She eventually admitted to stealing the timepiece and stashing it inside her vagina for safekeeping.
Police transported Lafave to University Medical Center for non-surgical extraction of the watch after she refused to hand it over.
“Prior to medical staff assisting Lafave with the removal of the watch, she admitted to them that she had stolen a watch and concealed the item in her vagina,” a police report said.
Lafave was arrested and charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. She was released on $40,000 bond after quickly lawyering up. Her attorney, Chris Rasmussen, said he plans to file a police complaint for illegal search and seizure.
“We intend to file a motion to suppress the medical intrusion,” Rasmussen told the Review-Journal. “The search is an unreasonable search when medical providers have to use equipment to conduct an invasive procedure to remove what police believe is evidence.”
Rasmussen said there was a misunderstanding between Lafave and his client.
“We believe he gave her the watch and later he tried to take it back when he wasn’t satisfied with her services,” Rasmussen added. “Like any person who works in these hotels, she believed she was going to be compensated for her massage.”
