|
Eagles club in Post Falls raided: Police seize gaming machines, cash; gambling alleged
(Spokesman-Review, The (Spokane, WA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 11--Post Falls police seized seven gaming machines and thousands of dollars Sunday in an early morning raid on the Post Falls Eagles club.
The club's board of directors could face misdemeanor criminal charges for allegedly allowing gambling at the club at 209 E. Railroad Ave., Lt. Greg McLean said.
"We had a confidential informant contact us and inform us they were paying out on machines and how they were paying out," he said.
When police served a search warrant at the club about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, they found the machines, which contained between $2,000 and $3,000, McLean said. They also found envelopes full of money waiting for people who were supposed to pick up their winnings Sunday afternoon, he said.
The club was paying a nickel per point on the machines, McLean said, and paid out winnings twice a week -- on Tuesdays and Sundays.
Idaho law prohibits games of chance if players must pay to play, and if winners are paid.
Investigators seized the club's bank records, log sheets and any cash they could find, McLean said. They've yet to come up with the total amount of money involved, he said.
McLean said the club's board of directors didn't seem surprised by the raid.
"They knew eventually they were going to get caught," he said. "All of them knew it was wrong and illegal."
The club's president, Chuck Estell, couldn't be reached for comment Sunday. Attempts to reach state officers with the Eagles were unsuccessful, and a woman who answered the phone at the club Sunday night said "No comment" and hung up.
Detectives will be interviewing all of the board members, McLean said.
The police lieutenant said he went to all of the businesses in Post Falls in April 2005 and warned that paying winnings on the gaming machines was illegal.
McLean said the Eagles removed their machines after his visit, but that the machines "showed back up in late 2005 or early 2006."
He said he thought the club might have been using gaming profits toward the construction of a new building. The club's liquor license will be suspended, at least temporarily, as a result of the bust, McLean said.
It wasn't the first gambling bust by Post Falls police this year. Officers ran a sting in January at Jack's Sports Grill and gathered evidence of alleged illegal gambling in the form of a Texas hold'em tournament.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
