Long Island Club Gets Raided Because Old Guys Play Poker

Suffolk county authorities arrested five men and shut down an alleged illegal gambling operation in Patchogue.

The undercover sting operation occurred this past Friday at 9 p.m. at a club on Waverly Avenue.

Authorities recovered $8,900 and arrested four Suffolk men and a Queens man.

The following were arrested: George Leodis, 42, of 24 Casey Lane in Mt. Sinai; Michael Anthony, 22, of 77-38 166th St. in Fresh Meadows; Michael Bohmerwald, 20, of 75 Cannon Dr. in Holbrook; Daniel Citera, 33, of 12 Newfoundland Ave. in Huntington; and Joseph Argentina, 26, 123 Adirondack Dr. in Selden.

They were charged with second-degree promoting gambling, police said. All of them were issued desk appearance tickets and will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date, police said.

David Bohmerwald, 47, said he was at the club Friday night with son, and another 20 to 30 people were there playing cards. Suddenly, up to a dozen police officers abruptly busted the door down.

"They came in with sledge hammers and knocked the door down, guns up," Bohmerwald said. "We're just a bunch of old guys playing cards."

Bohmerwald said his son, who is a business student at Quinnipiac University, wasn't doing anything wrong.

"They said he was a dealer," the elder Bohmerwald said, "which he wasn't."

He said police told him that night they were taking down the club because there slot machines and book-making going on.

But Bohmerwald said neither goes on at the establishment.

"No one's getting rich there," he said. "I just don't understand it."

No one from the Crime Section of Suffolk's Fifth Precinct could be reached for comment.

August 2, 2006
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com    Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!