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OGDEN -- Arcade game, or slot machine?
Ogden City says a device crossed the line from one to the other, and now its owner faces multiple gambling charges.
The machine is a version of those often found in video arcades: Coins go in, and potentially lots of coins -- and possibly cash -- come out. The Ogden city attorney's contention is these basically operate like slot machines.
The machines turned up first in Hispanic markets, then in various businesses around Ogden. Now they're in the police department's evidence room.
Lt. Scott Conley with the Ogden Police Department told KSL the owners of the businesses said they got the machines from a local man, John Honeycutt, who told the owners they were perfectly legal.
Not so, says Ogden City.
"It basically becomes a gambling device ... as per our city attorney's definition," Conley said.
But the attorney for Honeycutt contents it's a totally different deal. In a statement, lawyer Jeff Salberg says he doesn't believe the game is a gambling device under the Utah code.
In a statement, Salberg said, "I have not yet seen or reviewed the charges filed against my client by the city of Ogden. However, I do not believe that the amusement game in question is a gambling device as that term is defined by the Utah code. I personally don't see the difference between the game at issue in this case, and the games provided for the fun and enjoyment of customers at other well-known restaurants and arcades. Having said that, I believe my client intends to work through the issues with the Ogden City Attorney."
At the Fat Cats arcade and bowling alley in Ogden, the Pink Panther machine operates the same way. Only with this device, it takes tokens and spits out tickets redeemable for prizes.
Conley concedes, "There is some monetary value in a game of chance, I guess, for the arcade. That's an argument that could be made."
The Utah state code does define "fringe gambling" as something done "in exchange for anything of value ... or "given away" to the "purchase of other goods or services."
It doesn't have to be money.
"That's a decision for someone else other than I to determine, which is why we took it to the city attorney," Conley said.
City attorney Mike Junk told KSL his office simply responds to complaints. He saw the devices himself and determined they were gambling machines within reach of children.
Salberg says his client plans to work through these issues with the city.
Email: aadams@ksl.com
