"Burglary Exposes Possible Underground Casino" by Daniel Guss

A dubious storefront had red flags all over it.

Feb 28, 2023

- A Reseda storefront advertising its occupant’s weight loss business is the type of place that you drive past a thousand times without giving it a thought.

But a closer look at this one and you might notice no business name, permanent signage, store hours, website or phone number, while promoting its services for “$00,00.”

Reseda storefront as it looked in September 2022.

Those red flags suddenly made sense after the storefront was apparently burglarized during the storm between Friday and Saturday, as its center window pane lay shattered in thousands of pieces on the sidewalk, and what appears to be a bank of video monitors on the interior left side of the store.

The business with no name, hours, website or phone number was burglarized during the weekend storm.

The LAPD confirms that while West Valley patrol officers responded to the location on Saturday to investigate a burglary, their preliminary investigation revealed the location may be an illegal casino operation. Its investigation is ongoing.

A passerby says that he heard one of the officers refer to it during a phone call as “an illegal casino,” that may have been hidden behind a secret wall. A closer look revealed a cluttered, graffiti-strewn interior.

This burglarized Reseda storefront doesn’t look a whole lot like a weight loss clinic.

After the LAPD left the scene, a rear door seemingly belonging to the store was left ajar, exposing a pitch-dark interior behind a shared, unlocked gate.

Workers and patrons at adjoining businesses declined to comment on the situation. Public records show that the last business at this address lost its license in 2017. The Yelp result when searching for this address has an obscure business name with zero reviews.

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(Daniel Guss, MBA, was nominated for three 2022 LA Press Club awards and was a runner-up in 2021 and 2020. He is City Editor for the Mayor Sam network, and has been a featured contributor for CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW 89.9 FM, KRLA 870 AM, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Downtown News and the Los Angeles Times in its sports, opinion, entertainment and Sunday Magazine sections among other publishers.)