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Friday, March 31, 2000

Gaming rooms raided
Over $100,000, machines seized
By Dan Parker
Caller-Times
Corpus Christi police on Thursday raided nine game rooms, arrested at least seven people, confiscated more than $100,000 and seized dozens of video machines that officers said were illegal gambling devices.
   Chief Pete Alvarez said police still were working Thursday evening to confiscate about 320 eight-liner machines from the businesses, which he estimates are more than half of the machines in the city.
   Virginia Temple, a manager at Vegas Game Room, one of the raided businesses, said her establishment did nothing illegal.
   "We have the penal code on the wall, and we follow it to the code, exactly to the code," said Temple, whose husband, co-manager of Vegas Game Room, was arrested on misdemeanor charges. No one could be reached for comment at the other game rooms.
   Linda Alexander, a 51-year-old unemployed secretary, said she was glad to hear of the raids because she has lost thousands of dollars, nearly all her money, by playing eight-liners in Corpus Christi during the past two or three years.
   "You can't stop," she said. "If you have the habit, you can't stop. It's just like being an alcoholic. . . . (The raids are) the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope they close them all down."
   Police did not close the businesses, Alvarez said. However, officers were working to seize about 30 machines at Slots of Luck, 5410 Everhart Road; about 25 at Lit'l Vegas, 3533 S. Staples St.; about 35 at Lady Luck, 9450 S. Padre Island Drive; about 60 at Chances, 6410 Weber Road; about 50 at Joker's Wild Amusement Center, 6500 SPID; about 50 at Vegas Game Room, 10669 Leopard St.; about 25 at Three Cherries, 1233 Nile Drive; about 40 at Spin To Win, 5702 S. Staples St.; and about 3 at Alibi Lounge, 948 Waldron Road.
   Arrest warrants accuse operators of the businesses of possession of illegal gambling devices, gambling promotion, possession of gambling paraphernalia and keeping a gambling place. Bonds were $500 on each charge.
   All of the charges are Class A misdemeanors punishable by one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
   Police arrested Corpus Christi residents Les Wayne Brant, 36, at Slots of Luck along with Robert Sanchez, 31; Daniel Chapa, 48, at Little Vegas; Shirley Holiday, 62, at Chances; James Temple, 54, at Vegas Game Room; John Robert Dumas, 66, at Alibi Lounge; and Georgia Baker, 58, at Alibi Lounge, Alvarez said.
   Police on Thursday evening were searching for 17 people named in arrest warrants, all involved in running game rooms, Alvarez said.
   Working with officials from the Texas Attorney General's Office, police also served search warrants on the bank accounts of the businesses at five Corpus Christi banks, Alvarez said. The banks gave police cashier's checks for a total of $102,000 that police believe are proceeds from illegal gambling machines.
   "We've been able to link the business accounts to those establishments, and the bulk of the business they're involved in is gambling operations. . . .When you have money linked to proceeds from gambling operations and you can establish that the bulk of the money came from that, all of it is subject to seizure."
   Police believe clientele who won at the machines were given gift certificates at the game rooms and that the certificates were traded for merchandise at a number of local businesses.


Staff writer Dan Parker can be reached at 886-3774 or by e-mail at parkerd@caller.com

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