Grand Rapids also had illegal gambling in a local bar, despite being 21 miles from a legal casino.
The city of Grand Rapids is asking a judge in Kent County, Michigan to padlock a Southeast Side home suspected of being involved in illegal gambling.
The house is said to have been the source of numerous complaints, along with two raids on the hom eat 448 Delaware Street, east of Madison Avenue SE. In those raids, illegal gambling and alcohol sales were found.
The city’s officials said in a civil suit that the home is a “public nuisance”. The filing invokes a 1961 state law which allows homes to be shuttered, if they continually are turned into a public nuiscane. The civil suit was fild in the Kent County Circuit Court, in the court of Judge Donald A. Johnston.
John Freeman Is the Landlord
WZZM 13 reports that the homeowner, John Freeman, is accused of allowing the property to be used for alcohol sales. The city is asking Judge Johnston to order the house cleared and padlocked. If the judge decides to take that action, the house can be padlocked for up to one year.
Patrick Lannen’s Complaint
Assistant City Attorney Patrick J. Lannen wrote the civil complaint. In the document, Lannen suggested Freeman’s house “has a general reputation as a place where people engage in illegal gambling, sell/purchase intoxicating liquor and beer and/or use controlled substances.”
The history of the house’s trouble dates back to January 2011, when police officers collected several pieces of illegal gambling equipment. The confiscated property included a craps table, dice and dice cup, card table, and multiple decks of playing cards. The stash also including 60 beer cans, 4 bottles of Absolut vodka, and a marijuana blunt. Also, $2,157 in cash was confiscated from the game.
Frequenting an Illegal Business
At the time, about 20 people were ticketed for “frequenting an illegal business“.
The lawsuit against the property states, “Multiple subjects on the property admitted that the premises was used as a gambling house for cards and craps.”
When those arrests were made, John Freeman was notified about the raids, the arrests, and the hearsay. Despite being informed of the complaint, the owner continued to allow the gaming to continue — at least once a certain amount of time passed.
August 2016 Raid
In August 2016, Grand Rapids police once again raided the home and found illegal gambling taking place. This time, the police found a card shuffler, a card table, multiple decks of playing cards, a second table set-up for craps, 14 dice, and a dice cup. During the second raid, a tenant at the home “admitted he ran a gambling table and a crap table and was aware of multiple complaints regarding the home.”
That same tenant admitted to police he received a $5 rake from every pot. He also is said to have “made illegal sales of beer from the two locked refrigerators in the kitchen.”
20 Investigations in 5 Years
Besides those two raids 5 and 1/2 years apart, the police say they have had more than 20 police investigations focused on the house. The offenses have ranged seemingly across the full gamut of crime, including murder investigations, assaults, and car thefts. Numerous of the visits were due to noise complaints.
What has prompted the city to ask for the house to be put under house and key is that a majority of the complaints are related to gambling, alcohol, and controlled substances. The court documents show the city says the raids “appear to be related to the use of this property as a location for gambling and/or use and sale of illegal intoxicants and/or controlled substances.”
WZZM 13 News did not report if the lawsuit was being fought in court by John Freeman.
Gun Lake Casino
What makes the illegal gambling activity so much more bizarre is the fact that a brick-and-mortar casino is located less than 25 miles away. The Gun Lake Casino, owned by the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan, is only 21 miles away in Wayland, Michigan.
The Gun Lake Casino has 33 gaming tables and over 1,600 gaming machines. Gun Lake has more than enough gambling for the people frequenting the casino.
