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Roach problem forces Fort Myers bowling alley to close

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FORT MYERS, Fla., - A popular Fort Myers bowling alley is back open after a health inspection forced it to shut it's doors earlier this month.

A Department of Business and Professional Regulation report reveals a health inspector found a total of 7 health code violations at Gator Lanes on Crystal Drive ranging from high priority to basic violations.

The state of Florida defines a high priority violation as one that can contribute directly to a foodborne illness or injury. A basic violation is a lesser risk.

The inspector found 8 dead roaches on the premise and 5 live roaches, many in the kitchen area.

"It's dark, it's hard to tell. It's a bowling alley, I wasn't seeing anything scurrying across the floor," said Dan Addair, who bowls at Gator Lanes.

The inspector also cited the business for, "cooking potentially hazardous food," and because the "interior of the reach in cooler was soiled with accumulation of food residue."

"You have to take things like that seriously cause when you are selling food. It can affect people and can harm them," said Brent Jones, a Fort Myers resident.

After several trips from the inspector over the next five days, the business was cleared of all of their violations on March 14th, and were allowed to reopen.

"Every food industry is going to have some kind of roaches. It's just a matter of how well you clean and what you do to treat and take care of that problem," Addair said.

When Four In Your Corner reached out to the business owner Friday for a comment, the business owner declined to comment.