Deputies have arrested a store owner and an employee for possessing and operating gambling machines at a convenience store.
Vishal Kartikkumar Patel, 28, the store owner and Mitul Patel, 22, a store employee, both of Winter Haven, were taken into custody after investigators received a tip that gambling machines were being operated at the 7 Days Foot Mart at 1123 St. NW Winter Haven.
On Monday, Polk County detectives found three separate upright gambling devices that were fully operational by the front checkout counter. Two “Electronic Cherry Picker” gambling devices operated just like traditional slot machines. Detectives also located a quarter machine that allows a player to insert quarters with hopes of causing multiple quarters to fall from a platform within. All three devices were seized.
Authorities also discovered that both Patels were selling drug scales, glass pipes and Chore Boy screens used in conjunction with illegal drugs.
Both men were arrested and transported to the Polk County Jail. They have been charged with keeping a gambling house, possession of gambling devices, possession of drug paraphernalia, among other charges.
