Birmingham police identify 3 men arrested in illegal gambling raid

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - Birmingham police officers detained 11 people and arrested three people after conducting a raid on illegal gambling in the west side of the city on Wednesday.

Some of the 11 people detained have outstanding warrants and others have pending charges.

Police charged Devon Painter, of Adamsville and Justin Ashley, of Minor, with operation of illegal gambling establishment. Birmingham's Maurice Graham has multiple warrants and is charged with unlawful posession of a controlled substance.

"People may ask what's so dangerous about a gambling house. Well number one dangerous people, dangerous places and dangerous behavior. In this case you have two. Gambling is illegal in the state and can sometimes attract dangerous people," Sgt. Bryan Shelton said.

The BPD's Vice Narcotics unit conducted the raid around 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to tweets from the police department.

The tweets included video of apparent gambling machines being seized. Police did not know the exact number of machines that were seized in the raid.

"People do not know what it is by looking at it so basically the only people who do know what it is are people who are in the loop, in the know, or those who have already been inside in the first place," Shelton said.

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