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WEST VALLEY CITY - Police in West Valley City shut down two online gambling operations Wednesday night, and arrested dozens of people in the process. For business owners in the area, the takedown couldn't have happened sooner.
"I've always thought there was more to it than just computers," said Darla Milligan, co-owner of Sugarbaby Doughnut Works.
We have seen a lot of needles in the parking lot, what I think is prostitution activity, police activity -- busting people. It has not been fun.
–Darla Milligan, business owner
#milligan_quote
For the past two years, Milligan's doughnut shop has operated in the same complex as City Cyber Cafe. For the past two years, Milligan has watched as illegal activity occurred around her.
"We have seen a lot of needles in the parking lot, what I think is prostitution activity, police activity -- busting people. It has not been fun," she said.
When City Cyber Café was raided last night as a result of a two-year investigation into online gambling, Milligan and other business owners in the complex breathed a sigh of relief. They say they're sick of watching drug deals occur by many of the people who frequented the cafe.
"We've had cars park here and over at the end, [the driver would] get out and do a drug deal, and then leave; or there was drug deals out back," said Jeff Pueblo, general manager of BC Sales.
Pueblo's business shares a wall with City Cyber Café. He says he suspected illegal activity was happening next door, and he was finally tipped off to what it was last year when someone from the cafe came into his shop to buy a pair of shoes.
"He said that he had won $1,000 over there. And I thought, ‘How do you win $1,000 when there is no gambling in Utah," Pueblo said.
The customer likely won the money by playing online games of chance, which are illegal. Wednesday night, West Valley Police arrested dozens of people for doing or facilitating the same thing.
"We're hoping that tonight we can send out a clear message that this will not be tolerated," West Valley Police Sgt. Mike Powell said following the raid.
Police also confiscated all of the computers from both locations where the raids took place. Wednesday morning those businesses were still closed, with no sign of reopening.
"I'm hoping everybody's customers will be able to come in and feel comfortable," Milligan said.
The people arrested for online gambling will face a class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. More significant charges are in the works for the owners and employees of both City Cyber Cafe and Digital Connect.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
