By JOHN BURNETT and COLIN M. STEWART
By JOHN BURNETT and COLIN M. STEWART
Tribune-Herald staff writers
Police on Friday raided three Hilo arcades in a sweep they say “disrupted suspected gambling operations” at the businesses.
Shortly before 2 p.m., vice, patrol and community policing officers executed search warrants at Tilt Amusement Center in Prince Kuhio Plaza, Da Little Game Shack at 165 E. Kawili St. and 777 Arcade at 500 Manono St. According to a written police statement, officers seized 33 suspected illegal gambling machines, suspected gambling records, and cash.
“I won’t delve into the dollar figure, but it’s a large amount combined with the three establishments,” Lt. Bert Shimabukuro of Hilo Vice Section said Monday afternoon. “I would say in the five-figure range, but that’s a combination of all the places.”
Police arrested three employees on suspicion of promoting gambling and possessing gambling records, all Class C felonies carrying a possible prison sentence of five years, plus possessing gambling machines, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. They are 47-year-old Paul Lagat of Keaau at Tilt Amusement Center, 50-year-old Lance Yamada of Hilo at 777 Arcade, and 39-year-old Serena Valenzuela of Pahoa at Da Little Game Shack. All three were later released without charges pending further investigation.
“We’ll finish up the investigation and route it to the Prosecutor’s Office to have them make a determination as far as prosecution,” he said.
On Monday at about 4 p.m., 777 Arcade was back in business, with two or three patrons sitting at various machines that lined the walls. Yamada stood out in front of the building talking with a friend, but when asked about Friday’s raid, he said he had no comment.
Meanwhile, Da Little Game Shack’s doors were locked and no one appeared to be in the building, despite the fact that a sign on the door said the storefront was open between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
A woman working at Hilo Drive Inn next door who did not want to give her name said that the raid on Friday netted an entire truckload of machines that had to be carted off.
She said that the storefront had been very busy with gamers coming and going for the last two years since the arcade had been operating there, but she added that she had never been aware of any illegal activity.
Shimabukuro described the machines confiscated in the raid as “the push-button-type electronic slot machines like the ones they have in Las Vegas.”
“They’re basically video machines where (gamblers) put in coins and they can make a wager,” he said. Shimabukuro said that the machines gave winners vouchers, which they could redeem for cash. He added that similar machines can be found in bars across the state.
Shimabukuro said the raid was the culmination of an investigation of “a few months” starting with public tips and work by undercover officers.
Asked how widespread the gambling is, Shimabukuro replied: “I don’t want to say (it’s) widespread, but the Big Island is kinda small as far as that is concerned.”
He pointed to March 2 raids in Hilo and Kona, which police said at the time resulted from “a half-year-long investigation stemming from citizen complaints.”
In the Kona raid, officers served a search warrant at 74-5589 Alapa St., Unit 105. Police said officers seized 17 illegal video gambling machines, gambling records and $18,207 in cash.They arrested 44-year-old Sergio Cabal of Hilo, whom police said owned the establishment and his employee, 54-year-old Aaron Hiraishi of Kailua-Kona, for suspicion of promoting gambling, possessing gambling devices and possessing gambling records. Twelve individuals, all of Kailua-Kona were also arrested on suspicion of gambling.
Officers served another search warrant that day at an alleged gambling establishment at 288 Kilauea Ave. in Hilo. There, they arrested Cabal’s 38-year-old wife, Ruth Cabal, on suspicion of promoting gambling, possessing gambling devices and possessing gambling records.
On March 5, Sergio Cabal was arrested again, this time on suspicion of promoting gambling, possessing gambling devices and possessing gambling records at the Hilo establishment. He was again released pending further investigation.
All individuals arrested in the March raids were released pending further investigation. To date, none have been charged.