Casino Crime News Roundup: Fire Closes Casino Parking Garage

Posted on: February 17, 2025, 04:40h. 

Last updated on: February 17, 2025, 04:40h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A parking garage temporarily was closed on Monday morning after a blaze broke out at California’s Chumash Casino Resort.

The fire initially was noticed at 8:10 a.m. in the lower level of the parking complex.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department was alerted and crews rushed to the Santa Ynez, Calif. site.

Firefighters encountered low visibility due to smoke and fire, closing the structure to locate the vehicle fire on the first floor,” Santa Barbara Fire Capt. Scott Safechuck told Noozhawk, a local news outlet.

He said that hose lines were used to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent vehicles.

Fire crews sprayed water on the engine. The fire was extinguished at 8:34 a.m.

The fire was contained mostly to the vehicle’s engine. No other vehicles caught fire.

The self-parking parking facility was expected to reopen by about 10 a.m., some two hours after the fire broke out.

No one was injured. Authorities didn’t reveal a damage estimate.

Fire investigators also went to the scene to identify the cause of the blaze.

Pennsylvania $57K Winner Can’t Collect Because on Exclusion List

A man who won $57,000 at Pennsylvania’s Parx Casino in Bensalem found he couldn’t collect the jackpot on Saturday because he was on the state’s self-exclusion list.

The 46-year-old Philadelphia resident won the money at about 4 p.m.

But the unnamed player had voluntarily “self-excluded himself for life” from ever playing at a Pennsylvania gaming property, according to Pennsylvania TV station WHTM.

He was cited for trespassing by Pennsylvania State Police.

Long Island Arrests for Illegal Gambling

Three New York suspects were arrested last week after Suffolk County, New York police searched two Long Island businesses for alleged illicit gaming.

The trio was arrested at two locations of Lempa Deli in Central Islip on Tuesday, according to TBR News Media, a local news outlet.

Police located gambling machines in both sites.

There were three gambling machines at one deli. One person was gambling there during the search. Two gambling machines were at the other deli. Each of the five gambling machines were confiscated by local police.

Saul Reyes, 49, of Port Jefferson Station, a deli manager, was charged with possession of gambling devices. A deli owner, Jose Caneses-Escobar, 47, of Brentwood, was arrested on the same count.

A patron, Mario Zavala, 42, of Central Islip, was charged with loitering for the purpose of gambling.

The cases on the three suspects were forwarded to local prosecutors.

The search took place after residents complained about suspicious activity in the delis.