Police find fugitives inside Detroit casinos

Monday, July 31, 2000 | 8:04 a.m.

Recent statistics show that a large percentage of people arrested inside Detroit casinos have outstanding warrants.

Those people are often accused of some criminal activity inside the MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity casinos, but are eventually detained by Michigan State Police or Detroit Police after officers discover the warrants.

"You get a million people running through the casinos every day. You are bound to run into some with warrants," 1st Lt. Darwin Scott of the Michigan State Police gaming-enforcement unit told the Detroit Free Press for a story Monday.

Of the 81 people arrested inside the MGM Grand since January, 39 were fugitives. At the MotorCity Casino, 77 of the 205 arrests involved those with outstanding warrants.

Most warrants are for minor offenses, such as unpaid traffic tickets or child-support payments.

Officers said they haven't yet discovered a murder suspect or someone accused of a violent crime.

"Most are misdemeanors, not big felonies - but you never know what we'll get," said Cmdr. Greg Gaskin, head of the Detroit Police Department's gaming unit.

Those ignoring their warrants are usually initially contacted inside the casinos by police for some of the most common gaming hall crimes, including cheating, writing bad checks and pick pocketing.

While officers are investigating - usually by reviewing surveillance tapes - the suspect's name is run through a national computer that lists any outstanding warrants. The suspect is then arrested by Detroit police or turned over to law enforcement officials in the jurisdiction where the warrant was issued.