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11 area bars cited for gambling

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By Ryan Gauthier, Staff Writer Updated 1:16 PM Thursday, January 28, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — At least 11 Middletown bars were cited Wednesday, Jan. 27, as part of a crackdown on illegal gambling machines.

The state received a complaint several bars in the area were housing illegal gambling machines, said spokeswoman Julie Hinds. It is a violation of their liquor permits to have gambling machines that pay money to customers on the premises, according to Hinds.

Police from Middletown, Monroe and the Butler County Sheriff’s Office entered 11 bars at 11 a.m. Wednesday, seizing gambling machines, bank records and undisclosed amounts of money. An additional sweep of Middletown bars took place later in the afternoon, but Hinds would not say how many were involved.

The majority of charges filed were administrative violations and will go before the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, while any pending criminal charges will be filed in the Middletown Municipal Court, she said.

“In a few places officers also observed some alcohol violations, so they were able to write them up for those as well,” Hinds said.

Jimmy Valentine, owner of the Lakeside Inn on Tytus Avenue, said he does not know why police hauled off his two electronic gambling machines.

“I wasn’t making any money personally off of those machines,” Valentine said. “As bad as business is in Middletown you think they’d just let people go and do what they can do to make a buck.”

Also involved in the first wave of citations Wednesday, according to Hinds, were: Bill’s Open Door Cafe, 2715 Burbank Ave.; Lefferson Inn, 2908 Lefferson Road; Bucks Sports Bar and Grille, 1300 Central Ave.; Buster’s, 1819 Casper Ave.; Ye Olde Dutch Tavern, 2716 N. Verity Parkway; Third Base Cafe, 911 Crawford St.; Jenny B’s Hillbilly Heaven, 2502 Atco Ave.; Mutts Main Bar, 2703 South Main St.; Madison Inn, 101 Front St.; and The Blue Goose, 3008 Tytus Ave.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or rgauthier@coxohio.com.

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