Published: March 21, 2008 11:15 pm            

Westmont man faces gambling charges

A Westmont man will face Cambria County Court action on charges of bookmaking and drunken driving.

Timothy Warren Polantz, 51, of the 1100 block of Luzerne Street Extension, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge John Barron, of Upper Yoder Township.

State police, who filed the charges, went to Polantz’ residence around 8:30 p.m. Feb. 4 to execute a search warrant for his residence, his vehicle and on his person when they saw Polantz driving home.

The criminal complaint said a trooper approached Polantz and told him about the search warrant.

When asked if he had any gambling paraphernalia on his person, Polantz told the trooper that he had betting slips in his pockets, the complaint said.

Police searched his person and found both bet-owe sheets and a total of $2,329 in his pockets, the complaint said.

Police then searched his residence and found $6,000 in cash in a nightstand and numerous envelopes containing betting slips and a total of $4,648 in cash, the complaint said.

Polantz told police that he was taking bets on both sporting events and numbers.

Police also detected a strong odor of alcohol on Polantz when he got out of his vehicle. Polantz was taken to the hospital, where his blood-alcohol content was determined to be 0.30 percent, the complaint said.

        

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