OCALA - A woman in a stolen car led deputies on a high-speed chase Wednesday down the wrong side of the highway, weaving through traffic and slamming on brakes, and then began smoking crack cocaine as officers tried to apprehend her, deputies said. According to an incident report from the Marion County Sheriff's Office, a passenger also fell out of the blue 2007 Dodge Neon during the chase which reached a speed of 120 mph. The woman, 39, of Williston, was arrested and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, grand theft auto, fleeing and several counts of drug possession. She was being held Thursday in the Marion County Jail in lieu of $33,500 bail. [continues 237 words]
Affidavit: Dunnellon Officer Stole Drugs That Were To Be Evidence. DUNNELLON - A 31-year-old Dunnellon police officer was arrested Wednesday after being accused of stealing drugs that were supposed to be seized for evidence. The arrest was a culmination of a two-month investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Marion County Sheriff's Office and the Dunnellon Police. Police were suspicious that Brian Dean had been taking narcotics obtained from his investigations and using them. According to an arrest affidavit, the six-year officer found 26 baggies containing marijuana and $165 in a pick-up truck on Sept. 29, after being dispatched to the vehicle on a fake call by law enforcement officers who were watching him with video surveillance. [continues 238 words]
GROVELAND - Two people who reported a home invasion were busted themselves during an investigation by law enforcement. Lake County investigators found no intruders inside home on State Road 33 home in Groveland, but they reportedly did discover a drug lab and 68 marijuana plants. Ariel M. Moran, 28, and Leidys M. Diaz, 22, were charged with cultivation of marijuana and held in the Lake County Jail in lieu of $2,000 bail each. According to an arrest affidavit, investigators found the plants inside pots and buckets that were connected to an automated irrigation system. Each room was equipped with multiple grow lights and separate air-conditioning systems. [continues 164 words]
Attacking The Problem Of Black-On-Black Crime Editor's Note: Society pays a high price for violence - in lost lives, dashed hopes, lost wages and the cost of caring for victims and their families. This is the second in a two-part series looking at the human and financial toll. Read Sunday's report, "Violence: a costly 'disease,' " at www.star newsonline.com. Business owner Darryl Brown sat in his dimly lit Castle Street insurance office one recent Thursday afternoon, recounting how the street life of his 22-year-old son, Terry Green, had cost his son his life. [continues 1640 words]
BOLIVIA - A second man has been sentenced following charges that stemmed from a shootout during a drug raid last year by Brunswick County sheriff's deputies. Lavar Atari Thomas will serve a maximum of 7 years after pleading guilty to two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm. Mr. Thomas, 23, pleaded last week in Brunswick County Superior Court, a day before his trial was supposed to start. He is accused of shooting at sheriff's deputies as he was running from them during the raid. [continues 235 words]
Brunswick Hangs on to Funds From Drug Raids Money confiscated by Brunswick County officials during a drug raid in which charges were later dismissed does not have to be returned to the suspects, according to a decision made this month by the N.C. Court of Appeals. The ruling says that federal seizure programs take precedence over the state's and overturns a Brunswick County Superior Court decision in May that ordered the Sheriff's Department to return the money. "It was an entirely lawful act that comes with the price of dealing drugs," County Attorney Huey Marshall said of the seizure. [continues 282 words]
BOLIVIA - A Winnabow man was sentenced Tuesday to 19 to 26 years in prison after being found guilty of various assault charges from a shootout with Brunswick County sheriff's deputies during a drug raid last year. A Superior Court jury found 25-year-old Paul Pelham guilty of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflicting serious injury, three counts of assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer and four drug charges. He was found not guilty of the most serious charge against him, attempted first-degree murder. A conviction on that charge could have pushed his sentence up to 45 years, according to an official with the District Attorney's Office. [continues 213 words]
BOLIVIA - A Winnabow man told Brunswick County jurors Monday that he was afraid for his life when he fired shots at men who had burst into his home, not knowing they were narcotics officers on a drug raid. "I didn't know if they were going to stab or shoot me. . . . Didn't know why they were in my house," said Paul Pelham, testifying in his trial on charges of attempted murder of a narcotics officer. He is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault on a law enforcement officer and various drug charges related to the raid on his Van Galloway Trail home on Oct. 5 of last year. [continues 442 words]
BOLIVIA - Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a Winnabow man charged with attempted first-degree murder of a Brunswick County narcotics officer during a drug raid last year. The jury is trying to decide whether Paul Pelham was a drug dealer and knew they were narcotics officers he was shooting at after they kicked down his door. Narcotics officer Steven Lanier was shot during the raid. Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons gave the jurors several sets of instructions to base their verdict on including the legal definitions of self-defense. [continues 351 words]
BOLIVIA - The knocks Tuesday on the doors of 31 Brunswick County homes were followed by arrests from area law enforcement officials serving warrants on various drug charges. The arrests started about 5 a.m. and resulted from the six-month Operation Clean Streets. Brunswick County Sheriff's Department officials, who orchestrated the operation, said they expect it to play a major role in taking crack cocaine out of various neighborhoods. "We hope this will send a strong message that dealers here will not be tolerated," Sheriff Ronald Hewett said. [continues 370 words]
The Brunswick County jail is overcrowded and is too small for its administration to properly conduct business, according to results of a study released this week. The jail housed an average of 105 inmates per day last year, although it only is built for 75 inmates, and has four jailers per shift, the FreemanWhite architectural firm study reported. "It has been dangerously overcrowded for years and will get worse if solutions aren't made soon," said Steve Allan, a representative with the firm. [continues 460 words]
Before this week Helen Worthy had never seen crack cocaine. She had never touched marijuana. She had the opportunity to do both Monday at a presentation by the Wilmington Police Department on drug activity in the city. "I just can't believe people would pay money for this," Ms. Worthy said after examining a bag of crack passed through the crowd for observation. Sgt. Jeff Allsbrook with the City-County Vice and Narcotics Unit and other police officials gave an hour-long presentation at the Town Hall community center on Castle Street during which they talked frankly about the role of residents in combating drugs. He showed residents the tiny, resealable plastic bags that marijuana and crack are usually sold in. He said many buyers discard the bags at the scene of purchase. [continues 339 words]
One bad relationship college students may want to dump is the combination of alcohol and drugs. This is where UNCW substance abuse counselor Dee Casey tries to break things up. She tells students they are in a dysfunctional relationship and need to move on. "I ask them, 'What is so attractive about marijuana? Why do you keep hanging on to beer?'|" said Ms. Casey, coordinator of the substance abuse counseling program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Every school is vulnerable to some alcohol and drug use. By state law, colleges must have a program in which they deal with students cited for alcohol and marijuana use. Use of any harder drugs results in automatic expulsions, Ms. Casey said. [continues 330 words]
The Brunswick County Sheriff's Department is submitting its written arguments this week in an appeal to a Superior Court decision that ordered the department to return money confiscated during a drug raid. County Attorney Huey Marshall, who is filing the appeal, said the confiscated money was given to the Sheriff's Department through a federal program, and the decision should supercede the state's. "What the Sheriff's Department conducted was a lawful act," Mr. Marshall said. "They have every right to keep that money." [continues 278 words]
Drug Raid Leaves 2 Hospitalized A shootout during a drug raid in Winnabow late Friday has left a Brunswick County Sheriff's Department official and a suspect in critical condition as of Saturday night. Another suspect is in Brunswick County Jail on various charges including attempted murder. Narcotics agent Stephen Lanier was shot in the neck and hand Friday night and is in the New Hanover Regional Medical Center, said Sheriff Ron Hewett. Suspect Paul Emanuel Pelham, 24, was shot multiple times and is also at that hospital. [continues 494 words]