Former Richland County Coroner Gary Watts, 69, is suing the Town of Irmo and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division over an arrest made in April of 2024 for holding an illegal gambling game next to a children’s day care center.
The lawsuit claims that Watts rights were violated and he was falsely arrested when officers raided an office suite in the Friarsgate Centre on N. Royal Tower Rd. in Irmo. The lawsuit is based on SC gambling laws and locations and states that ‘an office suite is not an unlawful location to play poker.’
State law is clear on where you can and cannot gamble or play poker. A rented office space is not on that list.
Some places where you cannot play poker or gamble include outhouses, taverns, inns, liquor stores, barns, kitchens, stables, highways and streets or open places. Some former judges and a chief justice have claimed that the SC laws on gambling are outdated and that they should not be considered when forming anti-gambling statutes. Gambling is legal in one form or another in most states. The lottery is in all but five states and sports betting is legal in 35 states. Only four states do not allow charities and non-profits to hold gambling events of which South Carolina is one.
The Town of Irmo dropped charges against Watts and eleven others arrested during the raid after State Judge Thomas McGee came out with an opinion that the raid was unwarranted and not legal.
Watts is seeking compensation for lawyer costs and that he lost employment due to the embarrassment of the arrest.
Former State Senator Dick Harpootlian is representing Watts and is asking for a jury trail.
