PB-area bet sites raided; 24 cited

Slots, dice found in two buildings

A resurgent illegal gambling scene in the Pine Bluff area has resulted in the arrests of four people and 20 citations of patrons, police said Wednesday.

Slot machines and dice games inside two former businesses — including one that was a gambling hub when police raided it four years ago — prompted calls to police and the Jefferson County prosecutor, according to Maj. Lafayette Woods, a spokesman for the Jefferson County sheriff’s office.

In a joint operation among the sheriff’s office, the Tri-County Drug Task Force and the Pine Bluff Police Department’s Vice and Narcotics Division, undercover officers confirmed tips at two sites. Authorities seized $4,756 and removed motherboards from 77 gambling machines, Woods said.

In Arkansas, gambling is illegal outside of Oaklawn Racing and Gaming, Southland Park Gaming and Racing and the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery.

Police entered two unnamed buildings about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday on a noknock, nighttime search warrant, according to search warrant documents obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. One building is at 3510 W. Sixth Ave. in Pine Bluff and the other is just outside of the city at 8213 U.S. 63 South, where police arrested gamblers in 2013.

Woods said gambling activity recently resurfaced at the U.S. 63 location, once known as The Game Room, although he did not know how recently.

“In our county, over the last several years, there’s been problem with these

illegal gaming establishments opening up,” prosecutor Kyle Hunter said, “but I can’t comment for how it’s been across the rest of the state.”

In the past 10 years, Arkansas police also have arrested people for running illegal gambling halls in Little Rock, Texarkana and Saline County, according to news reports.

Police arrested Zachary Smith, a 28-year-old Pine Bluff resident, for the U.S. 63 location on a felony charge of keeping of a gambling house. Police determined Smith was the only operator of the site. Investigators found $1,811 in cash on site and removed the motherboards from 45 gambling machines there, according to return search warrant documents.

At the West Sixth location, police arrested Henry Gipson, 69, Joyce Moore, 57, and Frankie Jemal Shaw, 35, whom authorities said were joint operators of the site. They also were arrested on charges of keeping a gambling house. If convicted, they face up to six years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

All four were booked into the Jefferson County jail between 11:27 p.m. and 12:20 a.m. Smith had his probable cause hearing Wednesday morning, Hunter said, and was given a bond of $2,500 pending the prosecutor’s decision on whether to file formal charges against him. The other three will have probable cause hearings this morning, Hunter said.

Police also cited 20 patrons of the two locations for misdemeanor betting.

In 2013, police arrested 24 people in the operation of 15 different illegal gambling sites and seized about $500,000 and 600 gambling machines.

Woods said the sheriff’s office still has some of those machines and has spent between $14,000 and $15,000 in the past four years to store the machines.

Woods said the sheriff’s office is looking into auctioning them off in states where gambling is legal.