OFFICERS SEIZE DRUGS, CASH IN TOLEDO OPERATION

Sweep Yields 27 Arrests

Twenty-seven people were arrested and about $1,000 in drugs was seized in
the 800 block of Oakwood Avenue in a sweep during the weekend initiated
when two undercover Toledo police vice/narcotics detectives were assaulted
trying to arrest several drug dealers.

Three felony and 34 misdemeanor charges were issued. Police served two
felony warrants and 35 misdemeanor warrants in addition to issuing six
traffic citations.

The arrests ranged from loitering to trafficking in crack cocaine.

Only one of those arrested was a woman. Those charged are from Toledo and
range in age from 16 to nearly 50 years old. Crack and marijuana were
confiscated, vice Lt. Dan Schultz said.

"For some reason, the criminal climate thinks it can operate freely [in
this area]. They have no regard for residents or their safety. [The
criminals] feel it's their street, and it's definitely not," the lieutenant
said.

The undercover officers were assaulted about 10:45 p.m. Friday. Four men
and a woman approached the officers and started yelling and banging on
their car. Someone threw a brick through a side window.

One of the officers was injured by glass from the broken window. She was
treated for cuts at a nearby fire station.

The drug sweep began immediately after the assault and continued through 4
a.m. Sunday. It involved officers from Toledo police's vice/narcotics,
directed patrol, and gang units.

It was the fourth drug sweep by Toledo police within the last two months.

From Aug. 1 to 3, police made 91 arrests for felony and misdemeanor
offenses, including warrants. About $1,000 in cocaine and marijuana was
seized during the 15-hour sweep in the 800 and 1400 blocks of Oakwood
Avenue, the 1300 block of Page Street, and an apartment building at 1
Winthrop St.

More sweeps are planned, the lieutenant said.