Police: Raid of Springfield sites nets marijuana, guns, gambling machines, nearly $600,000
A Springfield Township boutique served as a storefront for an illegal gambling parlor run by a convicted felon found with multiple weapons, 10 pounds of marijuana, and nearly $600,000 in cash, according to police.
Township police, along with the Metro SWAT and Cuyahoga Falls SWAT teams, seized the cash and marijuana, along with 11 handguns, an AR-15, three ballistic vests and illegal gambling machines Tuesday while executing search warrants at a business on Albrecht Avenue and at a home on Edith Avenue.
Derrick Chatman, 39, of Springfield Township, was arrested and charged with drug trafficking, weapons under disability and possession of drugs. Police said further charges are pending.
Springfield Police Sgt. Eric East said police have been receiving complaints for about six months about the business, located about one block east of Columbine Avenue at 3120 Albrecht Ave.
He described the business as a converted home that operated as a women and children's clothing boutique in front with an illegal gambling operation in a back room.
East said a recent search of the Edith Avenue home by the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force gave sufficient evidence for police to obtain warrants for both the home and the business in connection with illegal activity.
He said the task force did not find the fugitive they were looking for at the home.
"However, while they were inside they noticed some items that appeared to be suspicious," East said.
The items included gambling machines in the garage, empty gun cases and safes in the home that he said police were told contained guns.
"Given the fact that the homeowner (Chatman) was a convicted felon, we obtained a search warrant at that time, at that residence, to search for illegal guns," East said. "That's when we found most of the half-million dollars."
He said police knew Chatman was the owner of the Albrecht Avenue business from their ongoing investigation of the business.
"We had had some complaints from some residents about the traffic in and out of that business recently, so our officers had been keeping an eye on that business," he said.
He said more money and machines were seized during the search of the business.
"They were still counting money seized from the search warrant yesterday, and they were up to close to $600,000."
Chatman is currently being held in the Summit County Jail. East said charges against him are being referred to a Summit County grand jury.
East said a few years ago there had been semi-legal gaming parlors in the township, mostly along a small stretch of Canton Road.
"We had a number of parlors that had popped up throughout the township, but once the legislature made changes to the law, they were pretty much all shut down and closed up," he said. "This was completely different from that. It was hidden. It was his own little operation."
Eric Marotta can be reached at 330-541-9433, or emarotta@gannett.com. Follow Him on Twitter @MarottaEric.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Springfield police say boutique hid illegal gambling operation
