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; Seized on Charge of Altering Mutuel Tickets at Belmont BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 23. — Antonio Popola, of 387 Chestnut Street, Newark, N. J., a 24-year-old grocery clerk, was taken into custody shortly before the eighth race at Belmont last Saturday by special agents and patrolmen of Pinkertons New York Racing Service, when an alert mutuel clerk spotted a flaw in two 0 mutuel tickets. Both tickets proved to be altered from No. "1" to No. "3" when examined under an ultra violet light and as a result Popola was charged with forgery and attempted grand larceny. Special Pinkerton agents and cashiers of the mutuel department, working in close cooperation for the past several weeks, had been on the alert for a gang of ticket forgers known to be operating on the east coast. Recently, losses of more than ,000 were reported from Garden State at Camden, N. J., and over ,000 in losses have been reported from the New England tracks. A preliminary examination of the forged tickets which, if successfully passed, would have paid 25, showed that the No. "1" had been obliterated with a bleaching liquid and the face of the tickets there-1 after restored with color and wax before superimposing on it the formed No. "3" die. The alteration, obviously the work of a professional, was complete and presented for payment within a period of 20 minutes. Popola was arraigned before Judge Leb-keucher on Sunday in Mineola where he waived hearing and was held in lieu of 0,000 bail for the grand jury on charges of forgery and attempted grand larceny."
