The RECORD has learned that the Bangor Police Department is handling suicide threats made in connection with Hollywood Slots. At least two suicide threats were made in the past few months, and possibly many more.

The audio recording of the March meeting of the Maine Gambling Control Board, chaired by radio personality, George Hale, reveals that there were two suicide threats made in February. One suicide threat was made on the premises of Hollywood Slots, when a distraught gambler was detained by security guards, and then escorted by Bangor police officers to a local hospital for treatment. A second  suicide call involving Hollywood Slots was made when another victim of the slots machine parlor dialed 911 desperately seeking help.

Scores of problem gamblers kill themselves in Las Vegas in any given year. And it is not unheard of for problem gamblers to kill themselves on the premises of a casino. The most notorious case occurred at the Isle of Capri casino in Kansas City, when a problem gambler, Jennifer Hill, drowned herself in broad daylight in an artificial moat which  surrounds the casino. Hill had stolen $1,800 from her employer to feed her gambling habit. In 2007, a second gambler drowned himself in the moat.

In 2005, Aaron Walsh, a decorated army veteran, shot himself  in Baxter State Park after losing heavily at Hollywood Slots. He left behind a wife and two small children.