Decatur police arrest five after raid on alleged illegal gambling den

Police in Decatur, Alabama, arrested five people after searching a home in the 1000 block of Hoover Avenue SW on 20 October. The Decatur Police Department, its Vice/Narcotics Unit, Special Enforcement Team and Special Weapons and Tactical Unit executed a search warrant at the property. The five people arrested were charged and released on bond later that day, the report said.

Officers seized multiple gambling devices, a rifle and cash whose total was not made public, the report said. The five suspects and the counts against them were listed as follows: Riley Clinkscale faced simple gambling; Victoria Ross faced simple gambling plus second-degree possession of marijuana; Marilyn Campbell faced simple gambling; Javonne Sears faced promoting gambling and violation of a protection order; and Maher Alqassari faced promoting gambling.

The report said police had received calls about the alleged gambling den for months before the raid, with callers alleging the house was being used for illegal gambling.

Alabama generally prohibits gambling devices, which restricts the operation of commercial casinos, according to the report. Tribal casinos are legal and account for all casino operations in the state; the federally recognised Poarch Band of Creek Indians operates three gaming properties under tribal and federal law. The report said Alabama recognises eight other tribes, which do not have the same federally recognised status and therefore cannot operate casinos under the same legal framework.

Alabama also permits betting on greyhound racing, an unusual stance given that 39 other states have outlawed it, according to the report. No track is operating in the state at present, however, because Victoryland shut its own in 2011. The venue had already closed its casino the year before, which left the Poarch Band of Creek Indians as the sole casino operator in Alabama, the report said.

According to the report, VGW runs Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Casino and Global Poker, and it has stepped up its lobbying in Alabama through a donation to the gubernatorial campaign of Sen. Tommy Tuberville.