08:40 PM EST on Sunday, November 16, 2003

By MARK BOONE / 6NEWS

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police raided a west Charlotte home early Sunday morning and found video poker machines, liqueur bottles and more.

After seeing hundreds of cars parked outside a home on Heights Way, neighbors got suspicious.

“I've seen people coming in and out at odd times in the morning,” one neighbor said.

Sergeant Spence Cochran of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said they have been investigating neighbor’s complaints about the house on Heights Way in west Charlotte for more than a month.

Police officers moved in Sunday morning. They brought out three video poker machines and a lot of alcohol.

Investigators said the man who rented the house had turned the place into an illegal nightclub.

“So normally at 2 a.m. or 2:30 a.m. when other clubs actually close, his opens up,” Cochran said.

More than 100 people filled the house on weekends, investigators said.

Officers seized three guns, crack cocaine and $1,000 in cash.

Neighbors are pleased.

“I know police can't be everywhere, but it's up to the community to do something about it,” said Chris Benson, neighbor.

A tip from the community put an end to what police say was a popular, but illegal neighborhood nightclub.