Newspaper Page Text
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
VIDEO
From page 1A
Department, along with
Houston Circuit Assistant
District Attorney James
Balli, moved quickly into the
store and found five
machines, two in plain sight
and three more behind
closed doors towards the
rear of the building.
Detectives questioned a
clerk, who at first argued
with police but later agreed
to testify against her
employer. The women’s
name has not been released
for her protection.
Behind the counter, police
found $5,000 in cash and
S7OO in prize vouchers for
Friday alone, ranging from
$lO to SIOO. Balli said he did
not believe S7OO in mer
chandise alone could have
left the store Friday.
“I can’t say that there’s
less than S7OO worth of mer
chandise in the whole
store,” he said. “But there’s
definitely not $1,400.
“If S7OO worth of mer
chandise left this store
today, something would be
missing. You would have
seen it on the shelves.”
Balli said he could not find
an item priced above $4.99,
and said most items in the
store were priced less than a
dollar. Balli said he found
most of the items nearly
fully stocked - a sign that
cash was leaving the store.
Police found close to SSOO
in one machine, and found
the five machines advertis
ing jackpots of between
$3,000 and more than
$6,000. Balli said the
machines were leased from
Greater Georgia
Amusements in Warner
Robins. Neither the store’s
owner nor representatives
of Greater Georgia
Amusements came to the
store Friday to open the
machines, forcing police to
use lock picks and a set of
bolt cutters on loan from the
Perry Fire Department to
open the machines. Police
were still unable to open
several machines in the
back room Friday because of
an elaborate locking mecha
nism. The five machines
were loaded onto a trailer
and impounded by police,
who will use them as evi
dence in their case.
On June 2, the Perry PD
raided the L&B Mini Food
Mart at 1429 Sam Nunn
Blvd. near 1-75, seizing four
machines and taking an
unidentified female clerk
into custody. Potter said the
woman was questioned and
released within hours of the
raid, after the store’s owner
agreed to turn over the
machines to authorities, for
feited any money found in
the machines, and swore not
to replace them.
“You get one break, one
time,” Potter said.
Days after the raid, two
other stores, the Perry Food
Mart at 719 Carroll St., and
the Circle Nine Food Mart at
423 Courtney Hodges Blvd.,
both agreed to voluntarily
send their machines back to
the company they came
from.
Witnesses at several busi
nesses in the Perry Plaza
watched as police pulled the
machines out of the store.
“You’d have to do a whole
lot of business when you’re
just selling chips and
drinks,” said Greer Lasseter,
owner of the Longhorn
Butcher Shop, housed in the
same strip mall as the OM
Food Mart. “I don’t see how
they could’ve done it.”
Pat Kincaid, who runs the
Plaza Barber Shop next to
the food mart, said that cus
tomers at the convenience
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Detective Ken Ezell of the Perry Police Department uses tools to pick the lock of a
video poker machine at the OM Food Mart on Sunset Avenue in Perry Friday.
Detectives found S7OO in prize vouchers for Friday alone, and found nearly SSOO in one
machine. Police believe the store was handing out cash instead of merchandise for
winnings - a violation of state law.
I ■
■ fm
faMI
HHJ/Mike George
A sticker on one of five machines at the OM Food Mart seized by the Perry Police
Department Friday points out that winning tickets or vouchers cannot be redeemed for
cash under state law. Police believe that the store’s owners were running an illegal
casino operation, handing
out cash for winnings.
store would take up the
shop’s parking spots for
hours, hurting her business.
“A lot of people would be
parked there for two or
three hours at a time,” she
said. “When they took up
our parking spots a lot of
our regular customers
thought we were busy and
would just drive on
through.”
As the raid continued,
passing motorists driving up
to the store stopped to see
what police were doing and
then continued driving on.
“It looked to me like a few
people were stopping by to
play,” Potter said.
Balli said the store’s
owner or owners could face
felony charges for operating
an illegal casino establish
ment, which he said could
bring up to a SI,OOO fine and
one to five years in jail.
“These people are basical
ly stealing from the state
education system by run
ning an illegal lottery,” he
said. “They’re taking away
from a regulated state lot
tery system that helps chil
dren.”
But Balli said the store
could reopen.
“It’s not illegal to sell
Coke and chips, but I don’t
see how they can do it, not
selling gasoline,” he said.
Potter said he will ask the
Perry City Council to revoke
the store’s local business
license, effectively shutting
it down for good. Potter is
waging a public campaign to
see video poker regulated
with local licensing, similar
to the city’s licenses for
liquor sales. He has asked
the city to draft an ordi
nance to help regulate any
new machines that come
into the city.
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