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Brentwood police seized eight video gambling machines from a Sunoco gas station Friday in what police said was a crackdown on illegal gambling taking place inside of the business.

The gas station, located at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and 38th Street in Brentwood, has allowed the illegal gambling for at least six months, said Brentwood Police Chief David Risik.

Customers inside the establishment, some of whom allegedly were gambling at the time of the raid, were held for questioning for a short time and then released without charges. Two employees who at the time were loading the machines into a U-Haul truck are being held by police and could face charges.

The owner of the business was not at the station at the time of the raid, which occurred around noon. Risik said police have been in contact with the owner of the store, who is currently in Georgia, and will be in contact with him when he returns about the allegations of illegal activity. The owner could face charges of illegal gambling, and potentially money laundering and tax evasion, Risik said.

In addition to the video gambling machines, state lottery and Keno machines, which are legal, some cash, and other items were confiscated from the gas station. Risik said the business would be banned indefinitely from offering any form of gambling.

The machines seized can be used legally in some cases, but the manner in which the machines allowed players to collect money and the fact that they were not licensed made them illegal, Risik said. The video gambling machines allowed users to make bets for $1.

Officials did not know how much money the gas station owner had made from the gambling operation but said the gambling appeared to have been a very popular form of entertainment. The machines, which resembled old arcade games, offered a variety of choices from "Captain Jack" to "Arabian Nights."

"My husband came in and played Keno, and he said the place was always packed," said Diana Fennel, former mayor of neighboring municipality Colmar Manor. "Now we know what all the traffic was coming in here for."

Brentwood mayor Xzavier C. Montgomery-Wright credited the re-establishment of the municipal police department, which had been dormant since 1972, for the bust.

Risik said as soon as the department formed again in December he began hearing about gambling taking place in the Sunoco. Working with the state comptroller's office, Risik was able to determine the gambling was not licensed and on several occasions used undercover officers to assess the extent of the illegal activity.

"People in the neighborhood were coming in to play," Risik said.

The machines were out in the open in the store.

"This plays on people in a troubled financial situation," said Sen. David C. Harrington (D-Dist. 47) of Cheverly, who arrived on the scene as the machines were being carted away. "We certainly don't want Brentwood being played."

E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.