The High Roller Club grew by two on the afternoon of Feb. 5, when a security officer noticed the only passengers in Cabin 16, a man and woman, smoking and undressing.
"The guests in Cabin 17 didn't seem to notice, but the guests in Cabin 15 not only noticed but were video recording the acts" with their cell phones, according to court documents.
Surveillance video — not yet made public — also caught the action on the Caesars Entertainment attraction at the center-Strip Linq.
Security officers used the intercom to tell the amorous couple to "please put all cigarettes out and put all clothes back on."
They stopped, briefly sat down, but then went back at it. They refused a second request to end the tryst.
That's when the Las Vegas police were called.
The 550-foot-diameter wheel with its 28 cabins each big enough to hold 40 people didn't stop rolling — it's continual motion. At the end of the 30-minute ride the fully clothed tourists, Chloe Scordianos, 21, of Hicksville, NY, and Philip Frank Panzica III, 27, of Houston, Texas, were pulled from the giant glass ball and charged with committing sex acts in public, a felony.
The criminal complaint alleges extensive nudity and
cunnilingus on the world's tallest observation wheel, which is billed as "The Happiest Half Hour in Vegas!"
"They both said they were just having a good time and didn't think anyone would notice," the arresting officers wrote in their report.