Washington State Casino Patron So Drunk Jail Refused to Take Him, Authorities Reveal

Posted on: July 10, 2022, 01:07h. 

Last updated on: July 11, 2022, 05:53h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

An intoxicated man in Washington State who allegedly pointed a pistol at a blackjack dealer at The Point Casino had an alarmingly high blood alcohol level. A dealer alerted officials the man needed to be cut off from drinks after he was seen slumped over at a casino table.

The Points Casino
The Point Casino, pictured above. A man was arrested after he allegedly pointed a gun at a card dealer there. The suspect was intoxicated. (Image: Noo-Kayet Investments)

The 24-year-old Bremerton, Wash. suspect, who was not identified in local press reports, reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.33 at the casino on June 11. It was several times Washington State’s legal maximum for driving of .08, sheriff’s deputies revealed.

The intoxication level was slightly below 0.40 when someone requires medical attention. After a security guard ordered that the suspect no longer be served alcohol, the guard took the man’s beer away. Later, the suspect’s blood alcohol concentration remained so high, Kitsap County Jail did not want to book him, the Kitsap Sun, a local newspaper, reported.

So a deputy drove him back to his home. Alcohol concentrations of 0.25 or higher can lead jail officials to refuse such inmates.

While at the casino, the man allegedly pulled out a 9 mm gun and aimed it at the dealer. The dealer shouted out: “Gun!” The dealer then hid for safety under the table. The man put the firearm into his pocket.

At first, the suspect denied to deputies he had pointed the gun. But deputies showed the man a surveillance video. He then “stopped talking and put his head down,” according to a sheriff’s report on the incident.

He was charged last week with second-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He was being held on $50,000 bail.

Earlier Charge

The suspect was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his 2015 conviction on a domestic violence charge, the Sun said.

While at the casino, the pistol had four rounds in the magazine, the Sun reported. There were no rounds in the chamber, deputies said.

The Point Casino is located near Kingston, Wash. It is owned and operated by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe.

Prior Intoxication

In an unrelated incident, last year Iowa’s Lakeside Hotel Casino and parent company Affinity Gaming were sued by a West Des Moines police officer.

He was seriously injured by an alleged drunk driver who had been at the gaming property hours before, according to a lawsuit. The court action claims the casino’s servers should have cut the driver off from additional drinks.

The Des Moines Register, citing the lawsuit, said Jon Schwartz, 61, of Kellogg, drove a rental car after having several drinks in 2020 at the casino. The car he was driving allegedly struck a cruiser in which Officer Jon Kaufman sat.

Kaufman’s attorney claims Schwartz drove the car after having at least 11 beers at the Osceola casino on Nov. 7, 2020, according to gaming property surveillance video.