SUSPECT KILLED DURING DRUG BUST IN CLAYTON

MOREHEAD CITY -- The heroin supply into Carteret County may have been cut
dramatically following an out-of-town drug bust that ended tragically last
weekend. Morehead City police said a drug suspect who was killed Friday
after he fatally injured a Clayton police officer was allegedly a major
supplier of heroin in the area. "Through an investigation here, there was
information that the suspect killed was dealing a lot of heroin in Morehead
City," said police Maj. Wrenn Johnson. Omar Garcia Fernandez, 27, was
reportedly shot and killed outside of a fast food restaurant in Clayton
after he backed his car over a Clayton police officer and dragged her 30
feet while trying to escape. The bust in Clayton followed a reported tip
from Morehead City police.

Johnson would not comment on the tip, but acknowledged that a local
investigation revealed Fernandez, who had about $1,000 worth of heroin in
his car in Clayton, may have been connected to drug activity here, she
said. The local investigation had been under way awhile and resulted in the
execution of a search warrant Friday at the home of 36-year-old Robert
Delong, 36, on North 20th Street, Johnson said. Delong was arrested and
charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver heroin, selling and
delivering heroin, and maintaining a place to keep a controlled substance.

He was placed in the county jail under a $15,000 bond.