DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190489

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   42 lines

POLICE: DENTIST'S HOME SEARCHED, DRUGS FOUND

Narcotics detectives are investigating a dentist suspected of distributing cocaine and marijuana from his home, according to a search-warrant affidavit made public Tuesday.

Police searched a safe taken from the dentist's guest bedroom and found cocaine, marijuana, and numerous items commonly used to package and sell drugs, the search warrant affidavit said.

The dentist, J. Matthew Hogendobler, told police the safe wasn't his. He said the safe belonged to a Washington ``drag queen'' who held the key, the affidavit said.

Police first contacted Hogendobler at his home in the 2200 block of North Lakeside Drive on Nov. 12 after receiving ``a report that cocaine distribution was possibly taking place'' there, according to the affidavit. The document did not identify the source of that allegation.

The affidavit said that when detectives confronted Hogendobler at his house, the dentist led them to the safe concealed in a dresser drawer and told them it contained drugs. According to the records, Hogendobler told investigators the safe had recently been refilled with cocaine and marijuana in Washington.

Police spokesman Lou Thurston said on Tuesday that Hogendobler hadn't been charged with a crime. Contacted at his office on Wildwood Drive on Tuesday, Hogendobler would not comment on the case.

Thurston did not know why detectives declined to charge the dentist with drug possession. Supervisors from the Police Department's Special Investigative Division, which handles drug cases, were not available to discuss the case Tuesday.

Authorities said an immediate arrest isn't required in such cases. They said Hogendobler could be indicted in the future, police could charge him with a less serious crime later, or not charge him at all, if they seek his cooperation to arrest the person who supplied the drugs.

Possession of cocaine, even if the drug does not belong to the person who has it, is a felony. Possession of marijuana is a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the amount of drugs involved. KEYWORDS: COCAINE DISTRIBUTION

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