The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is conducting an internal investigation to determine if any of its officers might be linked to a Northeastside poker club that was shut down this week.
Sgt. Matthew Mount said the internal affairs branch has been investigating for more than a week allegations that IMPD officers played poker or worked security for the Indianapolis Pinnacle Club, 3936 Pendleton Way.
"We are extremely interested in any information regarding any IMPD officers who may be involved in any illegal clubs or visiting any illegal gaming establishments," Mount said this morning. "If we find out that they are, we will turn that information over to the prosecutors and take decisive action within the department."
An Indiana State Police officer was placed on desk duty Wednesday after he was cited in connection with a raid on the club.
Trooper Kyle D. Freeman, 30, a seven-year veteran assigned to the Indianapolis post, faces a preliminary charge of illegal gambling, a misdemeanor. He was among 60 people who police said were playing poker Tuesday when Indianapolis metropolitan police vice officers shut down the Indianapolis Pinnacle Club.
An internal investigation will be conducted, 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten, a State Police spokesman, said in a written statement.
Freeman is a canine officer whose dog, Dudley, is named in honor of Lt. Gary Dudley, one of two riders killed last year when a truck crashed into a group of bicyclists in western Indiana. Dudley and the other cyclists were raising money for a charity that supports the families of fallen officers.
Freeman could not be reached for comment.
The 60 poker players, including Freeman, were issued a court summons and face preliminary charges of misdemeanor illegal gambling.
The players were men and women ages 18 to 70 who live in Marion, Hancock, Morgan and Hamilton counties, police said. Police did not release the names of the other players Wednesday.
Police arrested three men they said were running the games -- Ryan Roe, 36, Donald Kincaid, 65, and Richard Harvey, 28 -- on felony charges of illegal gambling.
Kincaid faces an additional charge of carrying a handgun without a license after officers found the weapon in his boot, police said. Harvey was arrested on a warrant charging him with contempt of civil court.
The raid was the culmination of a yearlong investigation, police said. Officers seized about $6,000 from the establishment, in addition to poker chips, computers, flat-screen monitors and other gambling paraphernalia. Police said it appears the poker club ran games seven days a week.
The building is south of Pendleton Pike and west of I-465 on the Northeastside.
Wally Shearer, 48, a car dealer who describes himself as a semi-professional poker player, said he is a regular at the Pinnacle Club and other area poker rooms. Shearer was not in the club Tuesday, he said, because the $25 buy-in tournament running that night was too small for him.
"There's hundreds of players in Indianapolis who want to play tournament poker," Shearer said. "I've been going there for about two years and never had a problem."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment