Illicit Gambling Den Raid Leads to Four Arrests in Oakland
Posted on: August 3, 2023, 09:59h.
Last updated on: August 3, 2023, 11:44h.
The raid of an illegal gaming joint in Oakland, Calif. last month led to the arrest of four men on weapons charges. It’s part of the city’s continuing crackdown against illicit gambling.
Each suspect was charged with illegal gun possession or illegal firearm activity following the July 5 search of the operation.
Police had the East 16th Street residence near the city’s Fruitvale neighborhood under surveillance when they saw a suspect “loiter in front of the residence while looking up and down the street.”
That behavior is “consistent” with someone “acting as a lookout for the casino,” according to court documents quoted by California’s Mercury News.
It turned out the lookout was a 20-year-old Fremont, Calif. man. The three other men range in age from 19 to 23. Each lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their names were not immediately available.
In addition to the arrests, officers seized three guns, numerous magazines, an unspecified amount of cash, ledgers, and slot machines from the operation.
One of the firearms was an assault-style rifle, according to CBS News. Several extended magazines were also seized.
The four suspects were apprehended and soon released from jail on their own recognizance or after posting bond.
Third Recent Raid
The court-ordered search was the third raid at the same residence within a year, Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo, D-5, told California TV station KTVU. He is chair of the council’s public safety committee.
Last month, Gallo said there were five illicit gambling dens in operation within a mile of each other. Some are in businesses that turn into gambling dens at night.
One gambling site can be raided and another one can soon open, he explained, adding that it can be hard to get residents to report the wrongdoing.
“People are reluctant to report it and point the finger at who’s doing it,” Gallo told KTVU, adding that their ongoing operations are a sore spot for the residential neighborhood.
The noise level, the activity, the gangs, the fighting that goes on — is serious,” Gallo said.
Oakland police say they continue to investigate illegal gambling dens, adding that landlords can be fined if the operations are located in their buildings.
More than a dozen illegal gambling dens operating in Oakland were identified by local police since 2020. At least three of the operations were raided.
Even after police raid the joints, they sometimes continued to operate, the Mercury News reported.
Multiple Crimes
The Oakland operations have led to serious crime.
For instance, the same gambling joint on Solano Way was robbed twice in two days in 2019. Masked bandits stole gaming machines. In 2020, at the same location a 16-year-old Pittsburg, Calif. girl was fatally shot.
Last year, in another illegal casino, four people allegedly tore the clothes off of a patron and tortured him, the Mercury News reported.
Residents Support Raids
Following last month’s raid, East Oakland residents told KTVU they want continued police enforcement on the illegal casinos.
“We don’t want the casino around here. That’s going to bring violence and other things out here,” Matthew Wilson, Sr., who is affiliated with Agnes Memorial Church, said. “Having an illegal casino brings a lot of bad energy. We’re trying to build an environment, a community.”
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Last Comments ( 3 )
Google Oakland gambling torture then you will know what I am talking about and that just a little of what this guy Hoang have done
Oh I forgot to mention this man also is the gang leader of this gambling house and many other as all the one they found him with 14 ave 17 ave 16 ave e16 17 ave and more. Trust me when I say this and soon there will be more dead because this man will not care about human life but dirty penny is all he care about and I forgot to mention to hey call them self a mob kidnapping holding people against their will for days torture strip naked is their method of terrorize the victims.
Well the police department just released a career criminal despite the fact that this man have committed all kind of crimes and you name it from torturing people gun violence now the key victim in the case he been charged for torture is dead so much a coincidence. This man is. A murder he thinks he can get away from the law obviously there is no justice in Oakland and it's so corrupt