First, Westminster police infiltrated two Vietnamese senior centers, secretly videotaping activities in the recreation rooms.
Then officers returned last week, citing 10 patrons for gambling in a crackdown that has stirred controversy in the city's Little Saigon district and put the centers' government funding at risk.
Authorities say their videotapes -- taken with the help of a senior who worked as an informant -- show operators of the Asian American Senior Citizens Assn. centers using the facilities as gambling halls. Police allege that the operators took a cut of the profits -- $500 to $1,000 a day.
But the raids have some center patrons and others questioning why the Police Department expended resources cracking down on what is a traditional Vietnamese pastime.
"The Americans play chess and bingo, and there's nothing wrong with that. We do the same," said Con Dang, an 80-year-old Garden Grove man who said he was playing cards at one of the centers last week when police swarmed in.
Dang said he was shocked when officers served search warrants and issued the citations. "I was scared to death," said Dang, who, with his wife, who uses a wheelchair, takes a bus to one of the centers each day.
The centers' founder, Kathy Diep, said police overreacted to a Vietnamese pastime.
The centers, which Westminster officials point to as examples of the city's commitment to the Vietnamese community, have received about $250,000 in funding from the city in the last four years. A $100,000 grant approved in April for one of the centers will be frozen pending a full police investigation.
During the June 22 raids, police said they found a gathering of seniors seated at two tables playing tu sac, a popular Vietnamese card game. Playing cards, poker chips, a payment roster and other items were seized, officials said.
"Investigators witnessed significant illegal gambling, and no other services being provided to senior citizens," said Westminster police Sgt. Bill Collins.
Diep denied that anyone was gambling. She said that the centers' dealers were volunteers and were tipped a total of $2 a day by the players as a courtesy but that the games were merely for recreation and to help build a sense of community. Police said, however, that dealers made $5 to $10 an hour.
"There's no money involved," Diep said. "It's a misunderstanding."
