A local business giving the appearance of a retail store, with clothes, jewelry and household items dotting its aisles actually looked more like a miniature Las Vegas gambling hall in its rear where Clinton Police, executing a search warrant, uncovered over a dozen slot-type machines Monday night.
No arrests have been made, and an investigation into the operation is under way. Clinton Police Chief Adrian Mathews was on scene Monday night, along with city detectives, who were gathering evidence and removing the motherboards from 17 gambling machines, some of them listed as Pot of Gold video games, often used in games of chance.
Mathews said a tip about gaming machines inside the store led officers to the Dollar World, 911 College St., around 6 p.m. When officers arrived, the chief said the doors were locked, but the open sign was flashing and they could see a man inside the front of the store.
Mathews said the man was likely the manager, and while he would not allow officers inside the store, he did come outside. The man also called the owner and allowed the chief to speak with him.
Mathews said the owner told him they could not go inside the store, and would let “the lawyers handle it,” and emphasized to the chief they would have to get a search warrant to come inside.
Approximately 45 minutes later, at 6:45 p.m., the chief and his officers returned with that warrant only to find the store’s doors “mysteriously” unlocked and no one there.
Officers entered the store and located the gambling machines in the rear, lights on, some of them displaying what could be presumed payouts of $5,000, $4,679, $4,656 and $4,205.
While there was no one inside the store, cars kept pulling through the Dollar World’s parking lot, including one woman with cash saying she wanted to buy some earrings.
Current North Carolina law, based on General Statute 14-306.1A, broadly bans operating, allowing, or possessing “video gaming machines,” defined to include slot machines, video poker, video keno, video bingo, digital lotto games, and any machine where the outcome depends on chance rather than skill and G.S. 14‑306.4 which specifically targets electronic sweepstakes machines, regardless of whether they are marketed as games of skill.
Most of the violations are considered misdemeanors, however general statutes say possession of more than one Pot of Gold gambling machine can result in felony charges.