Police suspect gambling at Monahans Internet cafe

MONAHANS Police went to the Rose and Two Thorns Internet Café on a search warrant Friday afternoon and arrested the owner, an Odessa man, in connection with a suspected gambling operation there, according to a news release from the Monahans Police Department.

Christopher Douglas Purcell, 54, of 1073 Navajo Trail in Odessa, was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, gambling promotion, keeping a gambling place and possession of a gambling device. He was being held at the Ward County jail, and bond had not yet been set for him Friday evening.

According to the release, the Monahans and Pecos police departments had performed joint undercover investigation at the Internet café, located at 1028 S. Stockton Ave. in Monahans. While working on the search warrant, officers seized 49 computers they believed were used for Internet gambling.

The case is still under investigation, the release said.