NEWS

Clyde Moose Lodge raided

Craig Shoup
Reporter

CLYDE - An agent with the Ohio Investigative Unit in Toledo said authorities confiscated 12 gaming machines and $20,000 after a raid on the Clyde Moose Lodge #393 Wednesday.

After receiving an anonymous complaint, OIU agents began an investigation that included entering the lodge and participating in the games.

"We took 12 gaming machines and 11 of them were similar to slot machines. These types of machines are deemed illegal," said Shawn Tatter, lead OIU agent in Toledo.

The OIU from Toledo is an arm of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which investigates businesses offering liquor.

The Moose Lodge's junior governor, Mike Golembioski, posted a message on the lodge's Facebook page confirming the raid.

"Local law enforcement and state officials were onsite to confiscate the video games," Golembioski wrote on Facebook.

The post by Golembioski also said all lodge officers and staff were cooperative with the investigation and said the lodge had been assured by the owners of the machines that they were within legal limits.

"Rest assured, we will do everything within boundaries to show the lodge was acting within boundaries and that the ultimate victims are those charities that the proceeds went to," Golembioski said on Facebook.

When asked for further comment on the investigation, lodge management declined to comment.

cshoup@gannett.com

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