THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409170294
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Eight of 15 suspected drug dealers indicted on charges ranging from cocaine distribution to firearms possession have not yet been arrested, Isle of Wight sheriff's Lt. Randy Gardner said Friday.
A grand jury returned 31 indictments Monday against 15 suspected drug dealers in northern and southern Isle of Wight County.
As of Friday, police had arrested seven of the 15. The charges stem from two separate drug investigations that began about three months ago.
In both operations, charges were made based on drug purchases by informants and two undercover police officers who say they bought crack cocaine from dealers in the northern and southern ends of the county.
Monday, six sheriff's deputies and two undercover officers began making the arrests. The undercover officers, one each borrowed from the Virginia State Police and the Southampton County Sheriff's Department, identified suspects while riding with county officers in unmarked cars.
The arrests have gone slowly because some of those indicted have not yet been properly identified by police, Gardner said.
``I want to take my time, to make sure I got the right people,'' he said Friday. ``It's a matter of locating these people. They're here and there - and everywhere.''
Also, police say they believe some of those who have not yet been arrested are eluding police as they search the various communities. Some may have temporarily left the area, police say.
``They're being more cautious and careful at this point,'' sheriff's Investigator C.B. Nurney said. ``And it's going to take some more work and more arrests. And that's all being planned right now.''
Gardner said he expects to finish with the arrests by next week.
Those arrested so far are: Kevin Deanare Lewis, 21, of Camptown, charged with three counts of distribution of cocaine; Lee Brown, 39, Camptown, two counts of distribution of cocaine; Reggie Burchett, 25, Windsor, two counts of distribution of cocaine; Toby Thomas, Smithfield, two counts of distribution of cocaine; Kirk A. Pierce, 19, Suffolk, one count of distribution of cocaine; and Anthony Young, Suffolk, three counts of distribution of cocaine. Petitions against a 16-year-old from Windsor also have been served for two counts of distribution of cocaine, Gardner said.
KEYWORDS: INDICTMENT COCAINE DRUG ARREST
by CNB