Huge
Gambling Joint Raided By State Police
Confiscate
$38,700, 187 Men Are Nabbed
Gamblers
Felt Secure As They Thought Raid Wasn't Possible;
Race Wires Are Being Traced By
Police
LAND FOR BUILDING SOLD BY TOWNSHIP
Maple
Shade's so-called "plumbing warehouse" proved to be just what
residents suspected it to be- an elaborate gambling establishment.
New
Jersey state troopers from North Jersey smashed their way into the
thriving gambling house early Thursday morning at Fellowship road and
State Highway Route S-41, arrested 187 men, and confiscated more then
$40,000 in cash.
Two
revolvers and a clip of ten loaded cartridges for a carbine were seized
in the surprise swoop.
About
twenty of those arrested were taken into custody when they arrived at
the jam packed establishment unaware that the police had moved in.
Thirty
men were questioned as suspected operators, lookouts, card dealers and
dice "stick men," and 19 of them were eventually held as
"principals."
All
the others were given a prompt hearing before a judge in Maple Shade,
and were released after depositing $25 cash bail. Most of them said they
were from Camden or Philadelphia.
The
raid, described by its leaders as one of the biggest ever staged in
South Jersey was executed at 12:50 a.m. by eight uniformed troopers and
nine plain clothesmen acting under special orders from Colonel Charles
H. Schaeffel, head of the state police. Eight additional uniformed men
were called in later from barracks at Columbus, Berlin, and Riverton.
Maple
Shade Police and township officials were not notified of the raid until
after it had taken place.
It
was one of the biggest gambling raids ever staged in New Jersey. The
target was a one-story cinder brick structure, resembling a garage or
warehouse, nestled in a clearing surrounded by thick woods not far from
intersections of Route S-41 and Fellowship road. A narrow country lane,
located about 150 feet off Fellowship road, served as the entrance.
Police
said that many patrons had been taken to the gambling house by "luggers"
operating limousine service from Philadelphia, and from other places
within a radius of about 60 miles.
The
ground for the building was sold to Domenic Iacovelli at public sale by
the Maple Shade Township Committee on April 26 with Thomas Vogdes, Main
Street real estate agent, acting as agent for Iacovelli. On July 12,
Iacovelli bought another piece of land adjoining the first parcel from
the township. An investigation today revealed that the township has no
record of Iacovelli's address although it is believed he resides in
Camden.
It
is reported that the building was erected in 17 days with workmen
working 24 hours a day. Some local men worked on the erection of the
building.
The
raiding party was led by Captain Arthur Keaton and Emerson Tschupp,
deputy director of the New Jersey Alchoholic Beverage Control
Commission.
The
magnitude of the raid was such that it was more then eight hours after
the troopers struck the gambling joint at 1 a.m. until the last of those
seized had been booked at the Maple Shade police station.
Fourteen
of those arrested were held in $5,000 bail each as principals by
Municipal Judge Bowers of Cinnaminson township; four were held in bail
of $1,000 each as material witnesses and one held in $2,000 bail as a
material witness.
The
14 men booked as principals on charges of aiding, abetting and assisting
in the operation of a gambling establishment were:
Nicholas
Bocchicchio, of Clifton avenue, Westmont, identified by Keaton as a
brother of Felix Bocchicchio,
who is manager of heavyweight Jersey
Joe Walcott.
Levi
Cicero, 715 Second street, Florence.
Pasquale
Beato, 2820 North Twenty-third street, Philadelphia.
Thomas
Girgenti, 1208 Haddon avenue, Camden.
Henry
Duncan, 600 Holmes street, Burlington.
Gardon
C. Gober, Cedar lane, Florence.
Christie
Scittina, 1207 Callahan street, Yeadon, Pa.
Dominick
Di Mattia, 16 South Forklanding road, Maple Shade.
Joseph
Putek, Fulton street, Delaware township.
Anthony
Meloni, 5302 Sherwood Terrace, Pennsauken.
Manuel
Gattabrio, 312 South Twenty-seventh street, Camden.
Harry
Donaphy, 3901 Lawndale avenue, Philadelphia.
Frank
Pollastrelli, 723 Monmouth street, Trenton.
Bail
was posted for Girgenti by N. Morton Rigg, a Burlington attorney.
Complaints against the suspects were signed by State Police Lt. Clinton
J. Campbell, Columbus barracks.
The
other 166 seized were booked as disorderly persons and were released in
$25 cash bail each for a hearing August 17.
Captain
Keaton, who led state troopers last Tuesday in raiding the national
headquarters of a $50,000,000 lottery ring in New York, said he
recognized henchmen of Marco
Reginelli among men seized.
After
undergoing questioning in the gambling establishment for more then three
hours, the patrons were transported in one of Fred Olt's buses to the
Maple Shade police station. The station became so crowded it was
necessary to use the auditorium of the municipal building to book the
men.
Lookouts
Sound Alarm
The
raiding party, in addition to Captain Keaton and Tschupp, included eight
uninformed troopers in charge of Lt. Albert G. Varrelman, and nine in
plain clothes.
They
reached the place at exactly 1 a.m.
Lookouts
stationed in a cupola-like arrangement in front of the building,
immediately detected them and alarm buzzers were heard sounding inside
the 100-foot long building.
Previous
inspection of the exterior of the building, it was learned from the
troopers, indicated there were only two exits, the four-foot wide door
in front and another the same size at the rear.
As
they pulled into the ground one trooper drove his car to the rear and
blocked the door.
Others,
carrying 20-pound sledge hammers, attacked the front door, later found
to be lined with armor plate, but could not batter it down.
Spotlights
on the troopers' cars were turned on the front of the building and
revealed a window, about six by 12 inches, to one side. Working from the
top of one of the cars, the troopers smashed away at this until a hole
was made large enough for one of them to crawl through.
Sgt.
Thomas Degaetano was then lifted through the opening and as he dropped
to the floor inside, he drew his revolver and ordered everybody inside
to the rear end of the room.
Degaetano
was followed by Sgt. Hugo Stockburger, who, on getting inside, unlocked
a door leading to the entrance hallway and then removed the steel bars
barricading the front entrance and admitted the main body of raiders.
As
he led his men in Capt. Keaton found the place a shambles from efforts
of the operators to destroy all gambling evidence possible.
Four
slot machines that had occupied a table to one side of the main room,
had been carried into an office whose door also was lined with
bullet-proof armor.
Three
expensive dice tables, each large enough to accommodate 35 to 40
players, and a black-jack table, almost as large, were found with their
felt lining partly ripped off.
None
of the men in the room offered any resistance, largely Keaton said he
believed, because he and the rest of the troopers came in "with
guns swinging."
Keaton
then divided the patrons and the staff operating the place into two
groups and ordered themto opposite sides at the rear of the building.
He
and other officers among the troopers began questioning the men while
waiting for a squad of eight more troopers from the headquarters
identification bureau at Trenton.
When
these troopers arrived they took over the formal questioning. They
directed each man to give his name and occupation and show
identification cards. Then they fingerprinted everyone in the building.
Any
of the patrons who had less then $400 cash or who was not recognized as
a police character was listed as an inmate of a gambling establishment.
Most
of the money confiscated was found on those listed as principals. One of
these had a $13,000 bankroll. Two more had $12,000 each; another had
$10,000, and a fifth man had $8,000.
Across
one side of the room was a large sign that read:
"Open every day and night including Sunday."
Elaborate
arrangements for handling bets on horse races included blackboards
listing each race at Monmouth Park, Arlington Park, Chicago and
Saratoga, N. Y., and Suffolk Downs, East Boston, Mass,
Another
sign advised the minimum bet accepted was $2 and the limit paid on
straight bets was 25 to 1, was 10 to 1, place, and 5 to 1. (next
sentence omitted- very hard to read on copy- payoffs on "ifs and
reverse")
The
payoff on daily doubles, still another sign read, was 5 to 1.
The
setup also included counters made of plywood, some where bets were
accepted and others used in paying off winners. These counters were
large enough, Keaton said, to accommodate from 20 to 30 players at a
time.
The
only windows in the building were about 18 inches by 10 inches, and were
located almost at the top of the walls, about 12 feet high.
Ventilation
was furnished by two huge electric fans which played on a continuous
flow of water in a trough-like arrangement of tin and the air was forced
into the room through two six foot tunnels made of plywood. |
