Saturday, December 16, 2006

An anonymous tip lead to the arrest of 22 people on gambling and other
charges and a gambling establishment was closed down in La Vergne Wednesday
night. The operation took place less than 75 yards from a church. Of the 22
arrested at 121E George Chaney Blvd, five were for felony charges while 17
were given misdemeanor citations. "We received an anonymous call that there
was gambling going on and when we went over there to do a welfare check, we
noticed the security camera on the outside of the building," LPD Lt. Ted
Boyd said Thursday morning. "Officers Russell Howell and Chip Davis knocked
on the door and the owners let them in. Apparently, the owners tried to
convince police that they had made a place for their friends to get together
and play poker." The games stated at 8:15 p.m. and reportedly would go on
until the next morning. There was a $200 entry fee to play, Boyd said,
noting they'd only been operating for about three to four weeks. Three of
the individuals - Steven Colbert, 42, of Shelbyville; Denny Kalinic, 33, of
Columbia and Cathy McPherson, 23 of Shelbyville - were charged with the
promotion of gambling and aggravated gambling. Two individuals ---Ashley R.
Hayes, 38, of Rockvale and Tyrone L. Jackson, 30, of Nashville -- were
charged with gambling and possession of drugs. Approximately 400 pills were
confiscated, along with nearly ½ pound of cocaine and a small amount of
marijuana. The pills were Oxycontin, Loratab, Xanax, Percoset and more.
Charged with gambling were Landace Clackner, 26, of Nashville; Ernest Milton
Darrett, 51, of Smyrna; Samuel B. King, 31, of Hermitage; Jefferson W.
Morrill, 36, of Nashville; Van L. Ho, 22, of Lebanon; Millard Austin, 28, of
Murfreesboro; Thomas James 31, of Smyrna; Robert Martin, 34, of Smyrna;
Jerry K. Shadowens, 41, of Smyrna; Rangsit T. Iamsaard, 37, of Murfreesboro;
Matthew M. Skaggs, 28, of Murfreesboro; Christopher S. Bissinger, 25, of La
Vergne; Russell A. James, 30, of Murfreesboro; Allison Johnson, 27, of
Antioch; Joycelyn Edwards, 27, of Antioch; Mark Pellatiro, 32, of Antioch
and Gary Armstrong, 48, of Nashville. In addition to the arrests, LPD
officers seized $15,063 in cash, two trucks - a 2005 Chevy Silverado 3500
and a Dodge Ram SRT 10 - two TVs, five guns, leather furniture, a
refrigerator (which was used to store alcohol and food), gaming tables and a
poker machine. Only the poker machine will have to be destroyed. If the
owners of the trucks aren't able to get their vehicles back, they - along
with the other items - will be sold at auction.

Ten officers from second and third shift responded to the call and
Vice/Narcotics and LPD's Crime Scene Unit were called in to assist and
process the scene.

According to Boyd, this is the largest bust by LPD officers on one call in
one night.

"I'm proud of our department for the hard work they did in making these
arrests and closing down this operation," Chief Steve Lindsay said. "This
was a major operation and we're glad we shut the games down before they
could possibly lead to more crimes within the city."