A day after a shooting and robbery at one underground sweepstakes parlor, sheriff's deputies have raided another operation. The sheriff is concerned about the threat the illegal operations bring to communities.
"This is illegal and we are not going to put up with it," said Cumberland County Sheriff Earl "Moose" Butler.
If you want to see Butler get riled up, ask him about illegal gambling.
"When it gets to where people are moving them in underground in the neighborhoods around where families are and around churches, it sets a bad precedent," said Butler. "I don't think they care."
Thursday morning, sheriff's deputies raided a home and garage near the Eastover community. Inside a barn, they seized four gambling machines and $1,800 in cash.
Butler said he has been getting tips about gambling houses being set up in discreet locations.
"We have closed the bigger gambling places and they knew we meant business when we told them to start with, and then when we went back and closed them, it has gone into smaller operations," said Butler.
In March, teams of law officers raided numerous businesses across the county. They seized dozens of illegal gambling and sweepstakes machines, and cited the owners.
Butler said his deputies had been tipped about the suspicious activity at a home on Cumberland Road. It's where two people were shot during an attempted robbery early Wednesday morning. Inside the house which is next door to a church, deputies found illegal gambling machines.
Butler calls it a sign of the times.
"I just think it sends a message that they don't care and they will set up anywhere they can to draw people in for gambling purposes," said Butler. "It's big money."
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