Indianapolis Poker Club Busted

Metro police linke= d to poker club?

The Indianapolis Metr= opolitan Police Department is conducting an internal investigation to determine if a= ny of its officers might be linked to a Northeastside poker club that was shut down this week.

Sgt. Matthew Mount sa= id the internal affairs branch has been investigating for more than a week allegat= ions that IMPD officers played poker or worked security for the Indianapolis Pinnacle Club, 3936 Pendle= ton Way.

"We are extremely interested in any information regarding any IMPD officers who may be involv= ed in any illegal clubs or visiting any illegal gaming establishments," M= ount said this morning. "If we find out that they are, we will turn that information over to the prosecutors and take decisive action within the department."

An Indiana State Poli= ce officer was placed on desk duty Wednesday after he was cited in connection = with a raid on the club.

Trooper Kyle D. Freem= an, 30, a seven-year veteran assigned to the Indianapolis post, faces a preliminary= charge of illegal gambling, a misdemeanor. He was among 60 people who police said = were playing poker Tuesday when Ind= ianapolis metropolitan police vice officers shut down the Indianapolis Pinnacle Club.=

An internal investiga= tion will be conducted, 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten, a State Police spokesman, said in= a written statement.

Freeman is a canine o= fficer whose dog, Dudley, is named in honor of Lt. Gary Dudley, one of two riders killed last year when a truck crashed into a group of bicyclists in western= Indiana. Dudley = and the other cyclists were raising money for a charity that supports the families = of fallen officers.

Freeman could not be = reached for comment.

The 60 poker players, including Freeman, were issued a court summons and face preliminary charges= of misdemeanor illegal gambling.

The players were men = and women ages 18 to 70 who live in Marion, Hancock, Morgan and Hamilton counti= es, police said. Police did not release the names of the other players Wednesda= y.

Police arrested three= men they said were running the games -- Ryan Roe, 36, Donald Kincaid, 65, and Richard Harvey, 28 -- on felony charges of illegal gambling.

Kincaid faces an addi= tional charge of carrying a handgun without a license after officers found the wea= pon in his boot, police said. Harv= ey was arrested on a warrant charging him with contempt of civil court.

The raid was the culm= ination of a yearlong investigation, police said. Officers seized about $6,000 from= the establishment, in addition to poker chips, computers, flat-screen monitors = and other gambling paraphernalia. Police said it appears the poker club ran gam= es seven days a week.
The building is south of Pendleton Pike and west of I-465 on the Northeasts= ide.

Wally Shearer, 48, a = car dealer who describes himself as a semi-professional poker player, said he i= s a regular at the Pinnacle Club and other area poker rooms. Shearer was not in= the club Tuesday, he said, because the $25 buy-in tournament running that night= was too small for him.

"There's hundreds of players in Indiana= polis who want to play tournament poker," Shearer said. "I've been going there for about two years and never had a problem."<= /p>

Shearer does not know= Freeman but said he knows at least three other local police officers who regularly played at the Pinnacle Club. Shearer declined to give their names.

Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2761.