Rio Arcade in Port St. Lucie shut down; sheriff says many arrests expected

PORT ST. LUCIE — Sheriff’s officials executed a search warrant Thursday at Rio Arcade and were expected to seize more than 100 machines as part of a gambling bust.

The parking lot of the arcade, 6653 S U.S. 1,  on the west side of U.S. 1 just south of Kitterman Road, was blocked by yellow crime scene tape before noon as deputies worked the area.

Sheriff Ken Mascara said dozens of arrests are expected.

“You only see this kind of stuff in Las Vegas, where it's legal,” Mascara said in the dimly lit business. “This is right here in St. Lucie County, and it's illegal.”

He said Rio Arcade is one of a number of large arcades in St Lucie County.

“After numerous attempts to diplomatically address the gambling with the owners, they have failed to close or to modify their gaming,” Mascara said.

He pointed to one game that he said was legal, but said many others were illegal.

The brightly lit machines arranged in neat rows inside Rio Arcade had names or wording including “Pot O Gold,” “Texas X Keno” and “Double Money Link.”

If the arcade game includes a randomized element — such as a random chance as to which prize players can win, even if the outcome relies on skill — it’s considered a game of chance and is illegal under regulations against slot machines, according to the Florida Gaming Control Commission.

Also, any type of cash payout is illegal, and many adult arcades have cash payouts.

“This place tends to prey on the elderly, that bring their Social Security check here and lose it all,” Mascara said.

Mascara noted a sign at Rio Arcade indicating more than $300 on a win.

“Totally illegal,” he said. “That's gambling as defined by the state of Florida.”

He said the raid Thursday was “the first step of addressing this illegal gambling here in St. Lucie County.”

“This place will be closed. We're confiscating all the machines, all the money,” Mascara said.

He estimated 140 machines would be seized.

Florida Gaming Control Commission spokesperson Eric Carr said the state was aware of the raid Thursday, "but not involved on the ground.

"Each case is handled differently, but we are partnering with local law enforcement agencies across the state on law enforcement actions."

Mascara said the search warrant execution came after eight months of work by undercover investigators.

“The owner and the manager of this establishment have been identified to be arrested as a result of this operation,” Mascara said, declining at the time to name them.

Potential crimes could include running a gambling house and racketeering, sheriff's officials said.

Those who were playing games when deputies arrived, Mascara said, would be arrested.

He said playing the games could result in a misdemeanor gambling charge, and likely would result in a notice to appear in court.

“There's going to be 30 or 40 people that have to deal with a court case now,” Mascara said.

‘Sometimes there's a win, sometimes there's a great loss’

Investigators began wheeling machines out the back automatic doors of the arcade and loading them in a truck to be taken into evidence, as a handful of people gathered behind crime scene tape a short distance away.

The enforcement action Thursday did not appear to sit well with Chalanda Jenkins, 52, of St. Lucie County.

“I feel like they just took away our adult game room,” Jenkins said.“We're retired ... some of them have pretty much nothing really to do other than sit home, eat popcorn, watch the soap operas.”

Jenkins said she’s been to Rio Arcade in the past.

“Sometimes there's a win, sometimes there's a great loss, but either way it goes. it just was a place of enjoyment,” Jenkins said.

“It's just like going to a store, playing the Lotto. “You take your chances. You’re going to take chances everywhere you go.”

Earlier in the day, Robin Riddick, 61, of Port St. Lucie said she asked an investigator if everything was OK. She said she plays at Rio Arcade every day.

Riddick said she was told the arcade was being closed.

Asked if she was surprised about the shut down, she said it was “a little crazy.”

“They open them, they close them,” she said.

Earlier arcade raids, arrests

On May 9, special agents from the Florida Gaming Control Commission and local law enforcement executed search warrants simultaneously in Fort Pierce, Delray Beach, St. Petersburg and Tampa.

They targeted illegal gambling operations at adult arcades and seized more than $1 million in assets, cash, slot-style gaming machines, computers and ATMs.

Slot machines became illegal as of July 1 last year, except at 15 approved casinos, mainly in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. That’s because the Legislature approved a Gaming Compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida in May 2021, giving the Native American tribe almost exclusive rights to most gambling activities.

Many arcades in St. Lucie County and some in Indian River County closed in May after state officials surprised Midway Arcade in Fort Pierce and three other arcades in the state with a raid that resulted in seven arrests and the seizure of 360 slot machines. Martin County doesn’t allow adult arcades.

However, some arcades never closed, and some were expected to reopen after a couple weeks, Carr said at the time. He said the state was monitoring those, and have been working with local law enforcement agencies.

'We can get in a lot of trouble': New details in Martin County High School football controversy

'We basically just want some answers': Father of Port St. Lucie man missing from cruise ship

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: St. Lucie sheriff's agents shut down Rio Arcade in gambling bust