POTH, Texas – Was it a crackdown on 8-liner game rooms, or was it politics?
A group of law enforcement agencies raided five locations along a 13-mile stretch of Highway 181 in Wilson County over the weekend for allegedly having illegal gambling. But the timing of the raid and exclusion of his department has Poth Police Chief Lowell Hull, who is also running for Wilson County sheriff, questioning the motivations.
Lowell's opponent, incumbent Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt, and his deputies handled the raids at a game room north of Floresville and one in Poth.
The two men face off in the Republican primary on March 1.
In a political ad in the Wilson County News, Chief Lowell Hull questions the timing of the raids, just days before the election, as well as his department's exclusion.
"If they had contacted me and at least had the courtesy to tell me that they were going to do it, it might not have been so politically obvious," Hull said.
Tackitt denies the exclusion was political.
"Well, the DA's office was kind of heading things up, and he indicated that he had told everyone that needed to be involved," Tackitt said.
Wilson County District Attorney Rene Pena, a Democrat, denies politics motivated the raids' timing. Instead, he said targets of the probe caught wind of the investigation, which forced his hand.
Pena said Hull wasn't part of the coalition because of a statement Hull made in July 2015 during the Defenders' original investigation of 8-liner gaming rooms.
Hull said at the time that he would contact the Attorney General's Office about the 8-liners and follow their lead.
"If they don't investigate it, more than likely I won't investigate it," Hull said in July.
Both Chief Hull and Sheriff Tackitt said the chief asked the sheriff for help with the Poth game room. Hull said Tackitt never got back to him and he only learned about the raids after they happened.
Pena is also up for election. He faces Republican challenger Audrey Gossett Louis in the District 81 District Attorney's races, which includes Wilson County.