THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503110247
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The ice cream man was arrested this week after police said he was carrying more than just Nutty Buddys and Bomb Pops on his truck.
Bicycle officers D.B. Huffman and V.H. Powell were on patrol in the 2900 hundred block of Kimball Terrace when they noticed a 16-year-old boy rolling a marijuana cigarette.
When they asked the teen where he got the drugs, he pointed to the white Mobile Market Co. ice cream truck nearby, still making its rounds. A sign on the side of the truck read: ``Your Neighborhood Door Store.''
Narcotic investigators Scott Eicher and Artie Kay were called to the scene, where, beside the frozen treats, they recovered eight ounces of marijuana valued at $2,400, police spokesman Larry Hill said.
Police arrested Willie B. Branch Jr., 45, of the 1800 block of Canton Ave., and charged him with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, operating a business without a license, possession of untaxed tobacco products and possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school - Chesterfield Heights Elementary.
The teen was charged with possession of marijuana.
Hill said the same bicycle officers saw a man with heroin near Branch's truck the previous day. When they approached the man, he tried to throw the heroin inside the Door Store, but Branch threw it back to him. Hill said they tossed the drugs back and forth three times before the man, who was not identified, was arrested.
The officers thanked Branch that day for helping them recover the heroin, Hill said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Police found drugs in Willie Branch's truck.
KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST by CNB