-from blog.cleveland.com-

By Patrick O’Donnell

Akron - Summit County Sheriff’s deputies stopped a Ryder rental truck Tuesday carrying 615 pounds of marijuana and arrested a 28-year-old Akron man.

Deputies stopped the truck with help from the Ohio Highway Patrol near Interstate 76 and East Market Street.

The driver, Chevaliee Robinson, was arrested on drug possession charges and was in the Summit County Jail tonight. The sheriff’s office valued the marijuana at $800,000.

-from wsaw.com-

By WSAW Staff

Portage County Sheriffs deputies, Stevens Point Police and the Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force have been working together for the past 16 months to uncover the illegal operation.

Since May of 2005.. officers from the central wisconsin drug task force have been going undercover and buying drugs.
In all, they made 185 drug purchases from 63 alleged dealers.

The Portage County Sheriff tells us the accused dealers are all ages..
The youngest is 15and the oldest is in their mid-fifties.
The accused dealers allegedly sold a variety of drugs including cocaine, marijuana, and prescription pain medications like oxycontin, vicodin, and morphine.
The sheriff says most of the people sold more than once.
“Parents selling their own children’s prescription medicine, or children selling their own parents or grandparents prescription medicine.. that seems to be the new trend in central Wisconsin,” said Sheriff John Charewicz.
The stevens point chief of police says this trend is making it easier for more people to buy and sell.
This investigation also led to a major cocaine bust that took place last fall.
The Sheriff says authorities seized 34 ounces of cocaine..valued at 90 thousand dollars..
The Sheriff says people with warrants out will be making an initial court appearance on March 1st.
The other accused who are summoned.. will appear in court on March 12.
If found guilty the District Attorney says most serious offenders could face six to 12 years in a maximum security prison.

-from todaysthv.com-

By Alyson Courtney, Reporter

Mt. Vernon Arkansas has a population of just 157. The school is the heart of the small town. Monday, just a half mile away at a home on Highway 310, police found a half pound of marijuana, eight ounces of the drug known as “ice” and guns.

Lt. Matt Rice with the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Department says, “Street value is around $24,000. We also seized $1,300 from the suspects and two vehicles.”

Rice says the bust came after weeks of investigation involving the sheriff’s department, Arkansas State Police, the state Parole and Probation Office and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Arrested were 39-year-old Britt Bryant, 23-year-old Portia Sylvester and 39-year-old Robert Legg. All are facing felony drug charges. Rice says Legg is a habitual offender.

Rice says, “I feel like he’s kind of a supplier around this area and I think by taking him off the street we’ve probably taken some of the smaller people.”

Mt. Vernon-Enola High School Principal Rudy Beavers says, “It’s disheartening to know that it’s that many drugs that close to a school, but it’s encouraging to know at least somebody’s paying enough attention to get rid of some of them.”

Many people living in Mt. Vernon were surprised to see such a big drug bust in such a small town but Rice says rural communities like this one are becoming a haven for drug users and dealers.

Rice explains, “This is a prime place for drugs, ice…whatever, out in the county where nobody sees you. It’s perfect, you know; people leave you alone out in the county.”

But not anymore says Rice. With new Sheriff Karl Byrd in office, investigators say there’s a new effort to keep drugs out of Faulkner County altogether.

“And basically he wants it to be known that if you’re a drug dealer or you have anything to do with drugs, we’re gonna come find you and we’re gonna do something about it,” Rice says.

-from wkty.com-

Whitley County has about 3,000 parents who pay child support.

A majority of those people owe back pay according to the county attorney.

So today he enlisted an army of police to round up the worst of the worst dead beat parents.

The round up started around 6:30 a.m. just one hour later 10 dead beats had been arrested and brought in for processing.

The County Attorney Paul Winchester says if others are wise, they’ll learn from these folks.

“The vast majority that are out there are not on this list will say, yeah if I don’t come in and make an arrangement to get them paid the sheriff will be knocking on my door,” said Winchester.

A collective force of Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputies and the Corbin police hope to round up 35 parents who back-due child support.

The total amount for all those people is more than $318, 000.

-from abc6.com-

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - Cranston police bust a major drug distribution operation. Police say they arrested 21 people over the weekend. Operation Hook A Crook was centered in Cranston, but involved several other communities.

They also seized 100 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, prescription drugs and 90-thousand dollars in cash several vehicles they said were used for drug activity.

Cranston police used wiretapping equipment to target mid-level dealers in a two-month investigation.

The investigation continues and there may be more arrests.

-from mercedsunstay.com-

By Doane Yawger

In three separate incidents, Merced police arrested four people on suspicion of drug charges, according to Cmdr. Tom Martin.

Stacey Mendoza, 23, of Merced was arrested in the 3300 block of R Street on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, possession of meth for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Michelle Barios, 20, of Merced was arrested on suspicion of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of drug paraphernalia and outstanding warrants.

The Merced Police Department’s Gang Violence Suppression Unit went to 3360 R St. to serve a search warrant. Officers were looking for drugs, weapons and gang paraphernalia.

Officers entered the home and saw several small children inside the home. The children were taken to a safe location and officers continued to search, Martin said.

K-9 Jamie conducted the original search of the home. She alerted on a empty plastic bag that was discarded on the bathroom floor next to a toilet that had been recently flushed. In a bedroom of the apartment inside a backpack officers located a pipe used to smoke methamphetamine and several bags of marijuana, Martin said.

Officers also reported finding a white sock that held a bag containing methamphetamine. Scales and pipes were found in the same area. In this same bedroom officers located ammunition.

Officers located gang drawings and graffiti inside the home, along with antique coins they believe may have been stolen from a home in the area, Martin said.

In the 1200 block of Yosemite Park Way, Frank Chavira, 35, of Merced was arrested on a suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, possession of meth for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In checking Chavira’s room, officers located a black pouch on top of an entertainment center. It was opened and a glass pipe was found inside. They also located crystal meth inside plastic bags, Martin said.

In a separate incident, Robert Reagan, 29, of Merced was arrested by Officer Kalvin Haygood on West Olive Avenue on a charge of possession of methamphetamine. Haygood reported finding a clear plastic bag in Reagan’s coin pocket containing crystal methamphetamine, Martin said.

-from nydailynews.com-

By John Lauinger, Daily News Writer

An off-duty city cop out shopping busted a robber after witnessing the thug beat an elderly man with a steel pipe, police said yesterday.

New York City Police Officer Edward Bilardi, 40, of Rosedale, Queens, was food shopping Sunday afternoon when he saw a disturbing scene on the sidewalk along North Central Ave. in Valley Stream.

A thug grabbed the 76-year-old man by the throat and then bashed him in the face with a foot-long steel pipe, Nassau police said yesterday.

Immediately, the 14-year NYPD veteran raced to help the victim, police said.

“Even if he wasn’t a cop, my son would run and help anybody,” said Bilardi’s mother, Rachel Bilardi, 65, also of Rosedale. “He wouldn’t think of himself for a minute. He’s good like that.”

The victim had been strolling northbound along North Central Ave. shortly after 2p.m. when the pipe-wielding robber demanded that he empty his pockets, said Detective Lt. John Azzata, commanding officer of the Nassau 5th Detectives Squad.

After the victim coughed up the $5 he had in his pockets, the enraged robber clubbed the victim multiple times in the chest with the pipe, Azzata said.

“By the time [Bilardi] gets there, the crime has already occurred,” Azzata said.

Screaming, “Stop! I’m a police officer,” Bilardi ordered the robber to surrender - but he ran off, Azzata said. Bilardi gave chase and cornered the suspect in a nearby alleyway.

There, the desperate suspect threatened Bilardi with a shovel he had picked up, wildly swinging it in an effort to avoid the collar, Azzata said.

Meanwhile, passersby had dialed 911 upon hearing the commotion, and Nassau County Police Officer Jeffrey Rios soon joined the fray in the alleyway. Together, the two officers slapped cuffs on the suspect after a short scuffle, Azzata said.

Both officers suffered minor cuts in subduing the shovel-swinging suspect, but neither required medical attention, Azzata said. The victim was treated at a local hospital for lacerations to his chest and nose and later released, Azzata said.

The suspect, who was identified as Samuel Denis, 24, of Elmont, has prior arrests for robbery and drug possession, police said.

He was charged with first-degree robbery and resisting arrest. He was being held for observation in the psychiatric ward of Nassau University Medical Center.

Rachel Bilardi said her son, who works out of the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, was born to help others.

“He’s always been like that,” she said, pointing out that her son volunteered to help at Ground Zero after 9/11.

“He’s got a good heart. God bless him.”

-from wtvynews4.com-

By Erica Proffer

Two men are now in the Dale County Jail after Midland City Police found over $15,000 dollars worth of drugs in their vehicle.

Thirty-three-year-old Lemont Norwood and 30-year-old Jason Walker, both from Texas, were stopped by Midland City Police over the weekend.

What started as a routine traffic stop Saturday around 8 am for failure to maintain lane and impeding traffic, turned into one of Midland city’s largest drug busts.

“Upon making contact with the driver, the officer could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. At that time, he called for a K-9 unit from the Dothan PD that came out and did a free air search, which indicated it on the vehicle itself. At that time, a search was made of the RV inside and approximately 11 lbs of marijuana, bricked, was found in a hidden compartment,” says Chief Dexter Hammond with the Midland City Police Department.

Along with marijuana, officers found a 12-gage shotgun loaded with five rounds of buckshot, an undisclosed amount of cash, and a suspicious pill that police suspect is ecstasy.

“The odor is what tipped the officer off in this case, but all the officers go by a certain way of doing things, a certain pattern to hit the indicators of drug traffickers or someone who’s running drugs or even has drugs in the car,” says Hammond.

The RV the men were using to traffic the drugs is a rental from American Dream Vacations.

It is equipped with a GPS navigation system that tracked their journey.

Police are now investigating their travel, which could possibly lead to more arrests.

Right now, Norwood is charged with certain persons forbidden to carry a pistol and both men are charged with trafficking cannabis.

Both Norwood and Walker are in jail under a $100,000 dollar bond each, for trafficking cannabis.

Norwood also has a $10,000 dollar bond for certain persons forbidden to carry a pistol.