Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-14
Possible Action Reported Fol-
lowing Ruling UNFOLDING
WarrantIeSS Raids.
JUDGE HITS DECISION
POTENT POLICE WEAPON
Raiders Find No Activity After
Visit to 80 Suspected Places
Last Night.

UNFOLDING the legality of warrantless
raids, Police Court Judge Isaac r.
Hit yesterday gave the police a potent
weapon for their crusade against boot
Logging and gambling, and they i'm
mediately set out to make use of it, but
failed to find any victims.
Closely on the heels of Judge Hits
| ruling. reports were heard that the
| Internal Revenue Bureau was making
an effort to check up on the income of
Washington's big shot" gamblers to
determine whether they have evaded
any income tax payments-tactics used
in Chicago which resulted in the in
dictment of "Al" Capone on tax fraud
| charges.
Two OF the ringieaderS in the gam
bling fraternity who are credited with
| controlling a majority of WaShington's
gambling houses are said to be- under
| investigation. The two men are under
stood to have operated the gambling
places for years, and are reputed to
have amaSsed fortune.
Evade Prosecution.
Throughout their long careers as
| gambling house operators these two
| men, and several others at the head Of
| the gambling racket" have escaped
prosecution because Of the inability Of
| the police to get sufficient evidence
| against them. Federal authorities,
| however, it was pointed out, can pro-
| ceed against them if there is any EVIL
dence of evasion of the income tax
| laws.
Maj. Gen. Herbert B. Crosby, Com
missioner in charge of police who was
instrumental in initiating the present
| police crusade against gamblers and
! bootleggerS, said he was unaware OF any
i action on the part of the Internal
| Revenue Bureau to aid in the campaign.
Judge Hits ruling put the stamp of
| legal approval on the recent activities
of Detective sergts, Arthur Finely;
| Larry ODea, Oscar Mansfield and
Howard Ogle, who, in their zeal to find
couple Of fellows" for questioning In
| connection with the theft of liquor
from the FL Salvador legation. went
into speakeasieS and gambling houses,
saw evidence of law violations and
raided the places.
Find 80 Places Closed.
Thus, with the support Of the court,
the four officers started out anew q
! few minutes after the decision was
announced. They visited 30 suspected
! gambling places and speakeasies, but
| found no signs of activity. Then they
went to Griffith Stadium, but saw no
suspects at the ball game.
! The four officers, however, are not
convinced that the places are closed
permanently and plan to go back very
soon. The week end exodus to po-
tomac River and Chesapeake Bay re-
sorts, coupled with the recent reopen
ing of the pretentious gambling house
| just across the District line in Mary
land, they believe. made it unprofit-
able for the gambling houses to keep
open
While three of the four raiders, De-
tective SergeantS FINELY. Ogle and
| Mansfield, were investigating activities
in Ninth street pool room last night.
their automobile, which was parked in
| front of the establishment, was ram
sacked and papers scattered about the
machine.
Some personal correspondence be-
longing to Fihelly was taken from a
side pocket of the car and torn up.
The officers were unable to locate any
one who could furnish any information
concerning the incident.
Judge Hit made his decision on the
legality of the warrantlesS raids when
asked by attorneys for four of the
men arrested last week to rule on their
motion to suppress evidence in the
cases. He held the alleged gambling
houses were public places and that the
police, as citizens had right to enter.
He also contended the excuse used by
the four detectives of looking for a
couple of fellows" wanted in COM
mission of previous crime. was
good one, even though the crime took
place several weeks prior to the raids.
Acting in Performance Of Duty.
Upon entering a place where gam
bling is in progress and observing at
first hand evidence of The violation of
the law, Judge Hit declared. the police
were only acting in the performance Of
their duty by arreSting the persons they
believed to be in charge, as well as any
others whom they considered to be able
to give valuable testimony in court.
Attorneys Harry Whalen, Louis
Whitestone anG George Boden, repre-
Senting the four men arrested in raids
last week, noted exceptions to Judge
Hits ruling and announced their inten-
ton of taking the cases to the Court of
Appeals. In the meantime, the men are
scheduled to be tried before juries in
Police Court Wednesday, along with
several others arrested in the gambling
raids.
The cases on which Judge Hit based
his ruling were those of Joseph Lewis
and Frank o. Davis, arrested in a raid
at 5l8 Tenth street, and Thomas w.
Simon and Steve j. Nichols, who were
taken when the officers raided els
Ninth street.
The legality of another method re-
Gently used by the police in their anti
gambling campaign, the arresting of
suspected gamblers on vagrancy charges,
also will be settled Wednesday when
before Judge Robert E. Mattingly.
n