THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506060261
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Eight students at four schools were arrested on drug charges Monday morning, ending a yearlong undercover operation into marijuana distribution that featured two police officers enrolled as high school students.
The two officers blended into the teenage educational environment by starting as new students in January and participating in all aspects of high school life.
``They took classes and exams and everything,'' said Patricia L. Mahaffy, spokeswoman for the Newport News Police Department. ``Their activities took them throughout the school system.''
So well were the undercover officers accepted as students, Mahaffy said, that they were able to make marijuana purchases from each of the students charged with marijuana distribution.
The officers were not removed from their undercover assignments until the end of school Monday, she said.
The investigation, a cooperative effort between the school system and the Police Department, also included surveillance of school property by patrol officers and a series of periodic sweeps by drug detection dogs.
Three adults who are not students also were arrested in connection with the investigation, and police expect to make one more arrest, Mahaffy said.
The students were arrested between 8 and 9 a.m. Monday. Two students were arrested at Denbigh High School, three at Ferguson High School, two at the north campus of New Horizons Regional Education Center and one at the center's south campus.
One of the students arrested, a 17-year-old female juvenile, was charged with one count of marijuana distribution. Another, a 17-year-old male juvenile, was charged with one count of marijuana distribution on school property and one count of possession of marijuana.
The other six students are 18-year-olds:
Phillip F. Spath, of the 12600 block of Daybreak Circle, charged with one count of marijuana distribution.
Gerald Daniels, of the 300 block of Pear Ridge Circle, charged with one count of marijuana distribution.
Jovonn R. Gordon, of the 100 block of Alan Drive, charged with two counts of marijuana distribution, one count of grand larceny, and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute on school property.
Lorenzo D. Cooper, of the 600 block of 25th St., charged with one count of marijuana distribution and one count of carrying a concealed weapon.
Thomas D. Chisman, of the 900 block of Nicklaus Drive, charged with one count of marijuana distribution.
Demetrius L. McLoyd, of Saybrook Court, charged with one count of marijuana distribution.
The three non-students charged are:
Shawn D. Walsh, 19, of the 100 block of Satterfield Drive, charged with one count of felony marijuana distribution and one count of misdemeanor marijuana distribution.
Danny L. Hamlin, 27, of the 100 block of Delmar Lane, charged with three counts of felony marijuana distribution.
Anthony Ames, 22, of Apollo Drive in Hampton, charged with one count of felony marijuana distribution and one count of misdemeanor marijuana distribution.
KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST UNDERCOVER OPERATION NEWPORT NEWS POLICE
DEPARTMENT NEWPORT NEWS SCHOOLS by CNB