Authorities In Hattiesburg Play Up Gambling Raid At Grocery Store

The Police in Hattiesburg, Mississippi made sure that everyone knew that a gambling bust took place on Sunday morning. By the reports, one would have thought that it was a major sting operation.

The reports indicated that sixty people were busted in the gambling raid at Discount Grocery on Edwards Street. Sixty people would signify a major gambling operation, four would not.

Spokesman Synarus Green said Monday that only four individuals were, "actually arrested". Even those four did not make it all the way to jail. They were bonded out before they were even booked.

Of the others that were busted in the raid, forty were given citations to appear in court. The owner of the grocery store disputed the amount of people that were in the store, however. Paul Hiatt claims that there were only thirty five people in the store gambling, not sixty.

In the raid authorities seized a handgun and over $50,000 in cash. The gun was registered with the state, according to Hiatt, and he expects to get the gun back.

He also stated that he will be fighting the charges because the police blew the situation out of proportion. "Everybody gambles at some point in their life," he said. Even though Hiatt does not take the bust seriously, authorities are. "The investigation is still ongoing. There may be other sites," said Green.

October 22, 2008
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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