Gambling brings out the worst in us
Posted by Jessie on 01 Aug, 2008It seems that casinos are a real magnet for crazy criminals or maybe losing money brings out the worst in us humans?
Petty thieves aside, patrons of Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack and Philadelphia Park Casino & Racetrack have found creative ways to get arrested this year - from the Glen Mills teenager who sidled up to the bar claiming to be 45 years old, to the Philly guy accused of grabbing an elderly woman’s butt.
State-police reports from the slots parlors in Delaware County and Bucks County consist mostly of everyday transgressions - thefts, forgeries and the passing of counterfeit bills - but are interspersed with brusque tales of bizarre behavior, much of which is caught on camera:
* Frank Scarcella, 43, of Bristol, was arrested May 30 at Philadelphia Park after he allegedly called another gambler “an evil bitch and said she should die.” Scarcella’s mother, Rita, says her son is profoundly deaf and was wrongly accused by a neighbor with a long-running gripe. “How could he? He doesn’t talk,” she said of the allegation. “The tape showed nothing.” Court records indicate that Scarcella was found guilty of harassment.
* The following month, Gary Hinderhofer, of Wilmington, Del., decided to treat the late-night Harrah’s crowd to a strip show starring his “bare buttocks,” according to police. State Trooper Steven Stigliano wrote in his report that Hinderhofer, 42, faces charges of harassment and resisting arrest for the June 15 incident in which he allegedly mooned casino patrons, knocked over a security officer and cursed out the cops.
* Heather Strain, 19, of Glen Mills, may have thought that she was wise beyond her years when she ordered a drink Feb. 24 at Harrah’s Stir bar - using the ID of a 45-year-old woman. Strain was convicted of carrying false identification.
* Robert Long, 42, of Philadelphia, appears to have a commanding lead in the contest for most unusual crime at Philadelphia Park. He’s accused of grabbing 72-year-old Pham Gerhardt’s rear end earlier this month. “I scared. He grabbed my butt and he run,” Gerhardt, a Vietnamese immigrant who speaks limited English, said from her home in Northeast Philadelphia. “I don’t want people attack me. They caught him.” Long was charged with harassment in the Aug. 8 incident.
* The biggest theft to come out of Harrah’s since its slot machines opened last year was committed by one of its own employees. Qiana Wright, 25, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty last month to stealing more than $30,000 from the casino by creating false machine vouchers and cashing them. Wright, who worked as a slots hostess, was sentenced to six to 23 months in jail.
* Perhaps the record for the most heartless crime to date goes to Downingtown’s James Fazzini. He allegedly stole $233 on May 18 from a man who collapsed in front of a Harrah’s cash machine from what appeared to be a heart attack. Instead of helping the unconscious 60-year-old man, Fazzini helped himself to his cash then bolted, according to Trooper Gary Onick.
The incident was caught on tape and Fazzini, 55, surrendered to police when his picture was distributed to the news media. Charged with theft and receiving stolen property, his preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month in Chester district court.
So, are casinos a magnet for petty crime any more than, say, a sporting event or anywhere else that serves booze to large crowds? Not necessarily, says Arthur Reber, a former psychology professor at Brooklyn College and author of “The New Gambler’s Bible.” But sometimes it sure seems that way!
The most common crimes at Harrah’s Chester are thefts, which are down slightly so far this year compared to the same period in 2007, and forgeries and counterfeiting, which are on the rise. Many of the victims are elderly, but casino patrons are generally older to begin with, said Sgt. Frank Cini, who heads the state police gaming-enforcement unit in Chester.
Cini said that police have also recorded 15 assaults and a dozen cases of disorderly conduct or public drunkenness at the riverfront casino, which serves alcohol from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.
One 66-year-old Philadelphia man was permanently evicted from Harrah’s in June after, police say, he grabbed a 36-year-old slots hostess and insisted that she sit on his lap. He then chased her around the casino floor yelling, “Give me a big kiss! I want a damn kiss, baby!”
A Drexel Hill man was banned from the premises last month when he ordered a beer while playing blackjack “knowing he did not have any money to pay for it,” state police reported. When the server returned, he laughed in her face “and continued to laugh at her as she walked away with the drink.”
While Cini urges patrons to watch their belongings and stay with slot machines with credits on them, many petty thieves are caught stealing anyway - and oftentimes forced to pay restitution to their victims - because of the approximately 1,000 surveillance cameras that monitor the property.
Officials in Chester and Bensalem say they have seen no uptick in crime in their communities that can be attributed to Harrah’s Chester and Philadelphia Park, whose slots parlors opened in January 2007 and December 2006, respectively.
But David Mustard, a University of Georgia economics professor who co-authored a 2006 study that found that casinos lead to increases in most major crimes except murder, said that gambling addiction and other factors that contribute to crime can take years to override the positive impacts of casinos, such as the jobs they provide.
“It’s not like I gamble today, lose $50, and go out and commit a crime,” Mustard said, explaining that gambling addicts typically deplete their own resources or borrow money before they resort to more extreme measures.
Once they reach that threshold, however, the addiction can take over. Just ask Carol Ackley, the former Ridley School District payroll coordinator who devised a crafty scheme to embezzle nearly $600,000 from the Delaware County district. She blew it all at Harrah’s Chester - located less than four miles from her home - and casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
Her husband, Herb Ackley, who worked as a painter for Ridley schools, initially said he was “shocked” when Carol was arrested in December. But he was later convicted of receiving stolen property, perjury and tax evasion after authorities determined that both he and his wife used the money to play slot machines.
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October 25th, 2008 at 2:49 am
[…] Jessie wrote an interesting post today onGambling brings out the worst in usHere’s a quick excerptState Trooper Steven Stigliano wrote in his report that Hinderhofer, 42, faces charges of harassment and resisting arrest for the June 15 incident in which he allegedly mooned casino patrons, knocked over a security officer and cursed … […]
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