Nederland puts pause on Bulldog game room

After learning about a March opinion from a Texas appeals court deeming 8-liner gaming machines “unconstitutional,” Nederland city councilors postponed an April 18 hearing scheduled to discuss concerns posed by residents who worry about the criminal activity attracted to the so-called game rooms and the pending application to open a new game room in the growing community.

Following public outcry concerning the Bulldog Express (also listed as Bull Dog Express) gas station and its proposal to install three to five “amusement machines” at its Twin City Highway location, Nederland city officials put a rain check on the hearing after realizing the proposal violates state law, according to City Manager Chris Duque.

As first detailed in The Examiner shortly after court of appeals justices released their opinion, the court deems the gaming machines “lotteries,” which are unlawful in the state of Texas, and therefore outside the rule of the Constitution, regardless of any “fuzzy animal” exception granted to enterprises such as Chuck E. Cheese and others operating the classic claw crane machines.

In anticipation of the now-delayed hearing, Bulldog Express reps went on the offensive in explaining their alleged intent – and attempting to set residents at ease with the application to install 8-liners at the new convenience store.

“We want to put some rumors at ease and, at the same time, allow the citizens of Nederland, Texas, to hear our side,” Bulldog Express reps expressed. “First, we only anticipate putting 3-5 amusement machines for customers to enjoy while they’re waiting for their food order, as we do have a franchise GW Gyro & Wings deli inside our store.

“The term ‘game room’ may imply that we want to open a room full of 8-liner machines; however, we have no intentions.”

Bulldog Express representatives further report that the store wants to “only” add a few 8-liner games to the site – five or less – and, even though they want to sell daiquiris to Bulldog customers, the store won’t run as a “liquor store” so as not to bring “the wrong crowd to the Nederland community.”

“The owners of this location are graduates of Nederland High School and will not tolerate the wrong crowd at all,” representatives wrote in a message to residents. A business search revealed the gas station is owned by Trigoals, LLC, operated at least in part by a man named Farid Datoo, although the company reps declined to address Datoo’s involvement when asked by The Examiner. “We respect this city and have no intentions of drawing in the wrong crowd that everyone is concerned of.”

The crowd “everyone is concerned of” was detailed as close to Datoo, however, in Jefferson County criminal court filings that allege Farid Datoo was “keeping a gambling place” in the city of Beaumont at “Fred’s Game Room,” located at 2895 S. Fourth St. This charge, currently before an appeals court as Datoo fights to return nearly $50,000 in alleged gambling proceeds, was not the only case Datoo received during his management of the Beaumont game room, though; Datoo was also charged with gambling promotion in 2007 and 2012. Fred’s Game Room is now under the direction of Jisan Makanojiya, (SP) a man whose family is connected to multiple Datoo enterprises.

Fred’s Game Room

Farid Datoo was no stranger to police raiding and seizing his games and money at Fred’s Game Room in Beaumont; it happened several times before the 2016 raid that spurred Datoo’s exit – at least on paper – from the game room business in Beaumont.

The raid in 2016 was planned for months, stalked out for a couple days, then exacted by a team of law enforcement officers with the help of a confidential informant. According to the sworn affidavit of Beaumont Police Officer Corey Pickney, the veteran vice investigator was familiar with Datoo’s record of alleged criminal activity and denoted the police department cases initiated in 2007, 2009 and 2012. Pickney stated that he personally witnessed customers of the game room waiting outside for entry to the locked business, the doors constantly secured, Pickney asserts, “in an effort to prevent the exposure of illegal gambling” taking place on the other side.

Citizen complaints of illegal gambling bolstered the police case, and when Pickney and a team of vice and narcotics officers entered Fred’s Game Room they left with a cadre of evidence to use in a case alleging Datoo was “Keeping a Gambling Place,” as well as $49,518 in cash, 83 circuit boards for 8-liner machines, bill counter machines, a 9 mm gun and ammo for the gun.

Datoo didn’t even bother to fight the Keeping a Gambling Place charge, pleading no contest and accepting a $1,500 fine for the crime in March 2018. What Datoo was not prepared to accept, however, was forfeiting the nearly $50,000 confiscated during the game room raid. The fight for the money continues today, a one-week extension granted to the state on April 20 in the appeals court hearing Datoo’s claim that he should be allowed to argue for the currency’s return.

The current word of the appeals court is that: “Datoo, not the State, now bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the seized money is not gambling proceeds and that he is entitled to possession,” if he wants his cash back.

Crime magnets

Then-Beaumont Planning Director Chris Boone previously told The Examiner the city experienced a growth in game room businesses predominantly in low-income neighborhoods that coincided with an increase in criminal activity. Despite pleas from local law enforcement, the city was unable to deny business permits to game room builders. Datoo, who had been the subject of many a police investigation as outlined in Officer Pickney’s affidavit for search and seizure, was granted his game room permit in 2015 – even though he had been criminally charged with gambling related activity two before then – and had at least one forfeited property associated with a Beaumont police raid of his game room.

According to Boone, the game room businesses were regulated under the Texas Occupations Code, which granted an exception for operating gaming machines that awarded prizes of fuzzy animals or like products valued at less than $5, also referred to as the “fuzzy animal” exception.

District Attorney Bob Wortham has never waivered in his stance that businesses hiding gambling enterprises under the cover of “amusement” game rooms peddling 8-liner play are hotbeds of criminal activity. Wortham points to police and residents living near these standalone or gas station game rooms who complain regularly about criminal activity that seems to gravitate to the illicit businesses.

In a March 31 article by The Examiner, Wortham told the paper the adult gaming machines can now be classified as they truly are thanks to the recent appeals court ruling that gave Nederland pause in allowing Datoo’s new place to put in 8-liners: Gambling devices.

“Gambling is illegal in the state of Texas,” he said. “You cannot add exceptions like the ‘fuzzy animal’ rule to make it legal.

“It very clearly says that if people want gambling in the state of Texas, you have to change the Constitution. You can’t come up with gimmicks to make it legal.”

The same day Jefferson County was working on a court filing in the Datoo forfeiture case, Orange County was tackling a game room case of its own.

April 20, deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Rose City Marshals executed a search warrant on the Gateway Travel Plaza, which is – or was – home to approximately 50 8-liner gaming machines. The raid was reportedly the result of a 10-month investigation into the alleged illegal gambling devices.

Vidor Mayor Misty Songe addressed citizen concern as to the Rose City business moving to its eastern neighbor, reporting it is unlikely any new game rooms will be operating in the city she serves.

“The city has a cap on the number of machines allowed in the city and there is not currently any room left,” Songe reported. “We actually set the cap below the current level. It’s very restricted on where they can open. It has to be a certain distance from others with machines, schools, etc., so it would be very hard to find somewhere to open.”