THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701190083
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 70 lines
Undercover detectives arrested 21 people accused of trying to buy crack cocaine in frigid weather Friday night on the corner of Bell and Harney streets.
The below-freezing temperatures didn't deter any buyers, said Lt. Detective Joe Tade of the Elizabeth City Police Department. ``A crackhead with a dollar in his pocket is going to buy dope,'' he said.
The sting was the first effort under Operation Helping Hands, announced just two weeks ago, in which several law agencies combine resources to focus on crime-ridden areas.
Highway Patrol troopers cruised near the Bell-Harney intersection, which is known for drug traffic, and made 72 stops of suspicious vehicles, issuing 34 violations and nine warning tickets.
The ECPD detectives disguised themselves and stood on the sidewalk as pushers. They sold imitation crack, said Tade.
The buyers came from as far as Lumberton, Kill Devil Hills and Norfolk.
Those arrested were identified by police as:
Linwood U. McClease, 51, of the 400 block of Bell St., Elizabeth City.
Lafern W. Glass, 49, of the 1000 block of Northside Road, Elizabeth City.
Danny Toler, 43, of the 1000 block of Northside Road, Elizabeth City.
Stacey Temple, 18, of the 700 block of Mount Hermon Church Road, Elizabeth City.
Jeffrey C. Kochan, 19, of the 1100 block of Four Forks Road, Elizabeth City.
Deborah D. Johnson, 38, of the 500 block of Debry St., Elizabeth City.
Robert P. Hocutt, 31, of the Beechwood Trailer Court in Currituck County.
Forrest A. Spence, 37, of Route 1 in South Mills.
William I. Griffin, 42, of Route 1 in South Mills.
James Morrison, 32, of the 500 block of Blount Road, Elizabeth City.
Mary K. Ciccarelli, 33, of the 1300 block of Coral Drive, Kill Devil Hills.
Robert C. Clauson, 29, of the 2300 block of Dominion Blvd., Norfolk.
Lynwood M. Evans, 38, of the 1100 block of Northside Road, Elizabeth City.
Barry Simpson, 39, who lists a post office box in Currituck.
Marvin C. Etheridge, 43, of Route 2 in Moyock.
Dale W. Rhodes, 35, of Route 168 in Maple.
Michael S. Johnson, 30, of Route 168 in Maple.
Alton Clark Jr., 36, of the 200 block of Hayes St., Lumberton.
Hermon H. Barrow Jr., 57, of the 200 block of Beechwood Ave., Elizabeth City.
Michael A. Dupree, 31, of the 300 block of South Sandpiper Drive, Kill Devil Hills.
Debra Brickhouse, 38, of the 1000 block of Shannon St., Elizabeth City.
All were arrested on charges of attempting to possess a controlled substance and were given a $5,000 unsecured bond. Toler and Deborah Johnson also were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Griffin also was charged with possession of crack cocaine and given a secured bond of $5,000.
Police charged Barrow, an Elizabeth City taxi driver, with conspiracy to possess a controlled substance.
``He carried the person to the middle of a known drug area and dropped him off,'' said Tade. ``He went 50 feet and turned around to pick the person back up. We're going to start paying a whole lot more attention to the cab drivers. If nothing else, it's a moral issue.''
Tade said the State Bureau of Investigation, the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Department, the FBI and the Pasquotank County Correctional Institution assisted in the sting.
Tade said the arrests should slow the drug traffic in that neighborhood for a while.
``Like any other business, if you disrupt the customer then business is going to suffer,'' Tade said. ``If we don't stay on it, it will come back. It's a question of manpower.''
KEYWORDS: STING COCAINE ARREST DRUGS ILLEGAL