Suburban Chicago Police Chief’s Son Ran High School Gambling Ring
The 22 year- old leader of a sports gambling ring for high school students in a posh suburban Chicago town has turned out to be none other than the son of the town’s police chief.

Daniel Dalzell, the son of the chief of the Alsip Police Department, has was arrested and charged with illegal gambling on Friday. His bail was set at $100,000.

Dalzell allegedly ran the sports gambling ring among students of two well- known Catholic schools, Marist High School and St. Rita High School. While the students originally made relatively small bets- no larger than several hundred dollars- some students’ bets soon amounted to thousands of dollars. As many as ten juniors and seniors in the high schools made bets of $3,000 to $4,000 at a time regularly. Two students, who were betting together, amassed a gambling debt of $27,000.

The boys, like many problem gamblers, had tried to bet their way out of the gambling debt.

The police found out about the gambling ring when students, worried about the rising debts, told their parents about the activity. Some students were further concerned because Dalzell’s ring had tried to force the students to pay up by using threats of physical violence.

Dalzell’s bookie runner, a high school student, began delivering threatening messages to boys who owed the gambling ring money.

"There were threats of physical harm to the student, his friends and his family," Assistant State's Atty. Russ Baker told the presiding judge at Dalzell's bail bond hearing on Friday.

The Cook County police then organized a raid on Dalzell’s residence in the 6300 block of West Carol Lane in the tony Palos Heights. They had originally wanted to gather more evidence by putting a surveillance team on Dalzell during the March Madness NCAA championship tournament starting next week, but decided that they could not wait to move forward since the gamblers’ safety had been threatened.

A representative from Marist High School said that school officials had not been aware of the gambling ring, and that she was disappointed about student’s participation.

"The activities and allegations in this investigation certainly do not reflect the values and teachings of Marist High School," said Patti Arvesen, Marist spokeswoman.

"Our community is disappointed by the actions of those involved," Arvesen said. "This situation serves as a reminder of the need to continue our mission of faith formation and personal development among the members of our school community."

If convicted, Dalzell faces up to 5 years in prison. Dalzell has no previous criminal record. None of the high school students is expected to face charges, although they may be subject to disciplinary measures by the school.

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