WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- A sweepstakes parlor that has been fighting to reopen its doors for weeks will now have to wait longer for an answer after a hearing today.
"Obviously I am not happy about what happened today," said Tommy Hicks, the attorney representing Capital One Reward Zone on Market Street. "We didn't get the relief we wanted."
Hicks has been trying to help the owners of Capital One Reward Zone, which has no association with the credit card company, get their business back open since the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office raided the sweepstakes parlor last month.
Thursday, a judge denied a preliminary injunction in the case filed against the district attorney and the sheriff.
"We felt like the system put in place was appropriate under the statute," Hicks said.
That is why the owners filed a lawsuit last week. A judge denied a temporary restraining order against the sheriff and DA last week, but the business is still fighting to reopen. But because the judge did not rule in favor of either side Thursday, it may not happen.
"What's going to end up happening is my client is probably going to be bankrupt in another week or two," Hicks said.
Hicks says his client is $250,000 in debt with only about $6,000 in the bank.
"What (the judge) did do was put us in a position where this business will ultimately fail," Hicks said.
The attorneys for the sheriff and the district attorney say they will file a motion to dismiss the case. A date has not been set for that hearing.
Deputies took 50 computers during the late July raid. The Sheriff's Office says the business violated the state's ban on sweepstakes.
