Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 Source: Villages Daily Sun, The (FL) Copyright: 2007 The Villages Daily Sun Contact: http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4540 IN NORTHWEST LAKE COUNTY, DRUG TASK FORCE IS NEEDED, USED Mark Isom and Ed Nathanson, police chiefs of Fruitland Park and Lady Lake, respectively, say the majority of violent crimes in the area are probably drug-related. But the crimes don't stem from gangs fighting over drug-dealing turf or huge caches of narcotics, they say. Police suspect that the majority of burglaries, for example, are committed by junkies looking to hawk antiques, televisions or other valuables for drug money. That's why both have been involved in a new task force of sorts specifically targeting drug crime in northwest Lake County. Police in Lady Lake, Fruitland Park and Leesburg, and Lake County sheriff's deputies, have teamed up at least twice in the past two months on drug busts aimed at curbing what police say is a growing crime element in the area: suspects moving, using or selling drugs in the county. "The trend is phenomenal," Isom said. "We've probably seen more drugs here in the last year than we've seen in the last five put together." Reports of "part one" crimes -- incidents such as robbery, burglary, assault, motor vehicle theft, larceny, murder and forcible rape -- increased in Lady Lake from 294 in 2005 to 364 in 2006, a 23.8 percent increase, according to recently released Florida Department of Law Enforcement statistics. The majority of reports -- 217 out of 364, or about 60 percent -- were for larceny or property theft, which includes such incidents as someone walking off with a window unit air conditioner or a person swiping change from an open car. The next largest was burglary at 81, motor vehicle theft at 34, aggravated assault at 24, robbery at five and forcible rape at three. In Fruitland Park, those types of crimes decreased from 129 in 2005 to 110 last year. Again, the majority of reports involved larceny -- 66 of the 110, or 60 percent. Next was burglary at 24, motor vehicle theft at 11, aggravated assault at five, robbery at three and forcible rape at one. Neither city reported any murders. Isom in Fruitland Park suspects 80 to 85 percent of his crimes are drug-related in the sense of being committed to allow the perpetrators to buy drugs. Nathanson estimated the percentage at about 50 percent, but said it could be more. Police can suspect that a crime is related to drugs -- for example, the theft of a television could indicate an addict looking for something he or she could trade for narcotics -- but that can sometimes be hard to prove if the suspect does not have a chance to use the stolen item in a drug transaction, Nathanson said. The drug suspicions aren't exclusive to Lake County. In Sumter County, investigators would not comment on suspected motives in a Monday home invasion where two occupants were injured, said Sumter County Sheriffs Office spokesman Lt. Bobby Caruthers. The suspect, Abraham Grady, has several previous drug arrests in Sumter County, beginning in 2003, Caruthers said. He added that the suspects that are either arrested on or convicted of drug-related crime usually are connected to other types of crime that on the surface don't appear to involve drugs. "The large percentage of these cases are related, in some part, to narcotics," he said. Law enforcement has changed some of the tactics it uses to respond to the suspected high percentage of drug-related crime. K-9 units are called to almost every traffic stop in Lady Lake and Fruitland Park. The departments are earmarking more officers for cooperative work. Departments are sharing more information. "By unifying our efforts, we can achieve much more," Nathanson said. "Everybody knows and everybody cooperates," Isom said. That cooperation not only saves on information gathering. Lady Lake, Fruitland Park and Lake County all sent personnel for a drug raid in Leesburg, saving Leesburg's department from using overtime and running up costs. The other departments rely on Leesburg's greater experience in narcotics operations. Groups as diverse as shoplifters, speeding motorists on U.S. Highway 27/441, and homeowners could be part of the drug business, they said. The four departments, including Leesburg and Lake County, in the early July raid stopped six people and seized about two pounds of marijuana, an ounce of cocaine and $1,000 in cash. They also confiscated packaging material, digital scales, a police scanner and cooking utensils. Police say it's just symptomatic of what's to come. "There's a whole lot more than you think," Isom said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom