THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140314
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
After a corporate purchase of Traylor Optical Co. left intact the family name but reduced service, family members fought to reclaim the business and protect their reputations.
In 1991, the Traylors succeeded in buying back two stores and restoring the business standards by which they lived.
Now, a member of the family that has owned the company four generations has been charged with dealing marijuana from the Hilltop branch of the business.
A three-month undercover investigation into Christopher K. Traylor ended early this month when he was charged with six drug felonies.
Police said, and search-warrant affidavits allege, that the 34-year-old Traylor used his family's business as a base for marijuana sales. At least four times, according to police, Traylor sold marijuana to a female undercover officer in or around the business.
One of the company's owners - Christopher Traylor's father - said any alleged drug sales were unrelated to his business.
``No money for drugs passed hands inside the Traylor Optical Company - period,'' said Harry O. Traylor. His son could not be reached for comment.
Sgt. Marie Chiarizia, a supervisor in the covert Special Investigative Division, said some of the transactions did take place inside and some took place in the parking lot.
On Wednesday, after a search-warrant affidavit and inventory were made public in Circuit Court, police agreed to talk about the case.
Police said the investigation peaked March 1 when Traylor agreed to meet the detective at the Hilltop-area business and sell to her seven pounds of marijuana.
The price was to be about $1,800 a pound, which represented a volume discount from the normal price of $2,250 per pound, according to the affidavits.
Police arrested Traylor and an accomplice. The search at the office in the 1500 block of Laskin Road netted the marijuana, cash and two guns.
Harry Traylor said in an interview that the guns were in his son's car - not in the business - and the confiscated $582 was his son's recently-cashed tax-refund check.
A simultaneous search at the younger Traylor's home turned up three more guns and a smaller amount of marijuana, according to the warrant. Harry Traylor said those guns came from his son's safe.
According to the affidavit, Christopher Traylor told the undercover detective he used the office as a sales base because his wife didn't want him dealing from their home.
Once, according to the affidavit, Traylor briefly put off a sale because customers were still inside the store.
Another time, police said, Christopher Traylor apparently mistook security guards from a nearby bowling alley for undercover police and told the detective they had to change locations because he feared arrest.
The detective began buying an ounce at a time from Traylor in December but soon requested larger amounts, culminating in the seven-pound deal, according to the affidavit.
Christopher Traylor was charged with five counts of possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute, and with conspiracy to distribute the drug.
A second man, 52-year-old Richard W. Mandelkorn, was arrested during the raid at the optical office, and he was charged with possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, and conspiracy. Mandelkorn has a history of drug charges dating to 1970, the affidavit stated.
Traylor was released a day after his arrest on $125,000 bail, according to a jail deputy.
The second Traylor Optical store, in Norfolk, wasn't involved in the drug case, police said. The business was founded in 1924. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Christopher K. Traylor, 34, has been charged with six drug felonies
related to possession or distribution of marijuana.
KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST by CNB