Cash gaming payouts at Hitchcock laundromat led to mayor's arrest, sheriff says
An undercover Galveston County Sheriff’s Office deputy won $41.45 from a slot machine video game inside a Hitchcock laundromat. Another won $72.
Both men collected their winnings in cash from a woman working the register of the Comfort Zone Washateria, who paid out the money from a black bag kept separate from the business’ register, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The cash payout, which is illegal under Texas law, led police to include the washateria as a target of a massive anti-gambling raid on Wednesday and contributed to the arrest of the business’ owner, Hitchcock Mayor Chris Armacost, authorities said.
Galveston County Sheriff Jimmy Fullen took credit for the crackdown on illicit businesses, which he implied had been ignored by the city’s authorities for years, during a Friday morning news conference.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/cash-payouts-hitchcock-mayor-arrest-21369053.php
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