Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 23, 1995 TAG: 9501240061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On the street, he is known as ``Doobie,'' the likable teen-ager who cruised around town in a white, convertible BMW. His older brother went by the nickname ``Nike.''
Together, Jerome ``Doobie'' Jones, 18, and Eric ``Nike'' Jones, 20, are accused of supplying a major portion of the crack cocaine and marijuana sold by street dealers in Old Southwest and Wasena.
On Tuesday, the brothers were arrested on drug and firearm offenses after Roanoke vice officers searched their house at 1023 Ferdinand Ave. Police confiscated $13,900 of crack, six ounces of marijuana, two guns and two of the three cars Doobie owned, including his BMW.
When they looked underneath Doobie's bed, they found $47,000 wrapped in a shoe box.
Within 48 hours, the brothers were out of Roanoke jail on bond. It cost Doobie $10,500; his brother paid $15,000.
But several blocks away from the Joneses' house, Kerns Avenue residents still were rejoicing over the brothers' arrest. For more than a year, they say, the duo used one of the area homes as a front for drugs and terrorized the neighborhood.
Doobie's white BMW often was seen parked in front of 1210 Kerns Ave. - a falling-down structure sandwiched between two tidy houses. With Doobie's arrival came a steady stream of cars and many late-night disturbances, say the neighbors.
``Everyone had seen drug transactions going on'' at that house, said Joseph Nash, president of the neighborhood watch group.
``A car would drive up, honk the horn, someone would run into the house; someone would hand something into the car,'' he said. ``One night I sat on the front porch and counted 20 cars that came by; 19 of them stopped at that house for five minutes or less. And rarely would an individual get out of the car.''
Nash said he and his family were physically threatened by the brothers after Nash reprimanded them for playing their car stereo too loudly.
The neighborhood watch group kept track of all the activity. Nash maintained a scrupulous diary. And the neighbors called police whenever there was a disturbance or they saw something out of the ordinary.
``[But] when the police came, it was just like the street swallowed everyone up,'' neighbor Kathleen Cook said. ``They couldn't get to them.''
Neighbors blame the residents at 1210 Kerns Ave. - Tammy Wooldridge and her family - for allowing people like Doobie and Nike to stay there. This month, police arrested a 21-year-old man who lived there in the armed robbery of a Sonic Food Market.
At times, frustration overcame the neighborhood activists, particularly when there appeared to be no end to the noise and the traffic.
``The police told us that it took sometimes a year, maybe two'' for a drug investigation, said Terri Beck, president of the Wasena Neighborhood Forum.
``They were working to get the big guy,'' she said of her conversation with detectives. ``But it's hard when you don't know what's going on.''
Beck said her group began counteracting other ends of the drug business in their neighborhood. Working on eyewitness accounts and police information, the group alerted the Getty Uni-Mart at 1115 Main St. that their pay phones were used as look-out points for drug transactions. The company headquarters since has removed them.
And the group continued to monitor any problems at their neighbor's house. Beck said the group's persistence helped focus the attention on Doobie and Nike. Police confirmed that anonymous tips to their vice bureau bolstered their case.
Wooldridge and her family deny any wrongdoing. They say all visitors to their home are checked for drugs; none ever have been found. They claim the neighbors have harassed them to make them move. A recent foreclosure on their house might force them to do just that.
``We're decent people,'' said Sylvia Davis, Wooldridge's mother. ``We've run all the teen-agers out.''
But neighbors remain vigilant. And they are proud that some of their fortitude may have led to the arrests of Doobie and Nike.
Sunday, Doobie was outside his house fixing a new door to replace the one vice detectives broke down when they served the search warrant. He held a cellular telephone. He declined to comment.
Roanoke vice detectives expect to work with federal authorities on additional charges against the two.
``It's great that someone like this is taken off the street,'' Nash said of Doobie. ``[But] it's terrible because it ruins the kid's life. And I wonder if this isn't just an opening for another kid to step into his place.''
by CNB