Colorado Poker Players Trump Charges

In April of last year over fifty SWAT team members burst into the Guadala Jarra restaurant in Palmer Lake, arresting two dozen poker players and charging them with gambling related crimes. Included in the mix of those arrested and charged were Al Karn, a former police chief, and Trish Flake, a Palmer Lake town council member. The parties involved were shocked by the enormous use of force for dealing with a crime that is a misdemeanor.A movie-like scene was described by Flake, with guns drawn and targeting lasers sweeping the crowd of poker players. Because the raid was not authorized by the District Attorney’s Office, the DA offered to dismiss the charges against the players if they agreed to donate $50 to a charity of their choice. All but three agreed, and those three recently went to court and beat the charges all together.