Police: West End gambling raid start of crackdown

By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Police say a Tuesday evening raid on an illegal gambling site in Atlanta's West End community is just the beginning.

"This is not where this is going to stop," said Maj. Debra Williams, Atlanta police commander of Zone 4.

Atlanta Police, the FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents served a search warrant at the V.T. Tire Co. at 715 Whitehall Street, just west of the downtown area.

The owner of the building will be charged with felony commercial gambling and operating an illegal gambling establishment, a municipal ordinance violation, police said.

According to Fulton County Sheriff's Office records, Marshall Lucas, 65, Vereda A. Taylor, 62 and Joe Louis Freeman, 72, were each booked into the county jail charged with felony commercial gambling.

Between 15 and 20 other people were arrested and will be cited with city ordinance violations for gathering with the intent to gamble, Williams said. Their identities were not available Tuesday night.

Police and federal agents found 21 gaming machines, casino chips and several poker tables where Williams said dealers were set up for Blackjack.

It is unclear how much was being paid out per game.

"We have been looking at this place for a year," Williams said.

The large warehouse, located directly behind the West End MARTA station, had been used as gambling location for as many as five years, said John Pavlin, vice president of the West End Neighborhood Development Association.

"We never heard of any trouble coming from there," Pavlin said. "But we knew it was there. And I'm sure some beat cops knew, too."

Video gaming machines could be seen just past the front entrance, where police had those being arrested lined up outside the building.

Authorities said there were card tables and stations for dice games inside.

Chris Dorn, who rents a studio from a loft complex across the railroad tracks on Murphy Avenue said he wasn't sure what was happening in the building.

"There would always be cars parked outside at odd hours ... 3 in the morning or on a Sunday afternoon after church," he said.

The investigation is ongoing.

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