Local News in Brief : Officer’s Wife Charged

A policeman’s wife has been charged with running a commercial gambling operation at the couple’s Long Beach home, and an internal investigation is under way to see if the officer was involved.

Acting on a tip, Long Beach police raided the garage card room on Nov. 28 and arrested four alleged gamblers, along with the officer’s wife, Vicky Lozano.

Arresting officers said a stack of money and blue poker chips lay on the table. A sheet of paper on one wall listed “house rules for the card games,” they said.

Vicky Lozano’s husband, Antonio Lozano, a Long Beach policeman, remains on the job in the court affairs office, said Police Lt. John Bretza of the internal affairs unit. No charges were filed against him.

“There was not enough evidence, in my opinion,” said city prosecutor John Vander Lans, who filed charges against the others this week. “He was not present when the game was taking place.”

But an internal affairs investigation has been initiated to determine if Lozano was involved in the alleged gambling parlor, Bretza said.