POLICE SEEK INSIGHT INTO DRUG RING

Arrest May Advance Probe Of Subculture

With the arrest Thursday of a 21-year-old Chantilly man suspected in a
drug-related slaying in Bristow last month, Prince William authorities are
hoping to learn more about a drug subculture that involves several young,
middle-class suburban men throughout the region.

After a nationwide manhunt, U.S. marshals and a fugitive task force were
able to find Owen Merton Barber IV in a beachside hotel in San Diego on
Thursday. Barber, who police think is responsible for the shooting death of
Daniel Robert Petrole Jr., 21, had been on the run since the March 15 slaying.

Petrole was shot almost a dozen times as he sat in his car in the driveway
of his new town house in the developing Braemar neighborhood just outside
Manassas. After his death, police inadvertently discovered hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of high-grade marijuana and the party drug
ecstasy in Petrole's home, along with piles of cash.

Sources close to the investigation said that Petrole and other young men
were receiving recreational drugs from Oregon and Texas and selling them to
clients in Fairfax and Prince William counties, and possibly elsewhere.
Searching Petrole's home, police found at least 50 pounds of marijuana in
vacuum-sealed packages.

According to police, Barber might have known Petrole through the drug trade
and might have considered him a rival. Prosecutors said Friday that
Barber's arrest was a big step in the investigation, though Assistant
Commonwealth's Attorney Richard A. Conway said that "the immediate focus is
on the homicide aspect of the investigation."

Barber disappeared days after the killing. Police tracked him to a San
Diego hotel, where he was arrested about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, said Deputy
U.S. Marshal Jim Schield in San Diego. Schield said Barber, using a false
name, had been staying at the hotel.

Schield said marshals received information from Prince William authorities
that Barber might be in San Diego and showed his picture at beach hotels,
where he was recognized. After setting up surveillance, members of the
fugitive task force posed as maintenance workers and followed Barber to his
room as he was returning from the beach. Barber apparently was not aware
that he was being watched and did not resist arrest, Schield said.

"We believe he was out here for about a week," Schield said Friday, adding
that investigators are figuring out how he got there. "It's a place where
he could probably mix with a college crowd without drawing too much attention."

The arrest could give authorities inroads into the local drug scene that
has been rapidly unfolding since Petrole's death. County police detectives
have interviewed dozens of people, and prosecutors have issued veiled
warnings to those who might be involved in the drug trade.

"As this investigation continues, it might be in the best interest of a
number of people to come forward," Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert
(D) said Friday. "They might want to talk to us before the hammer falls."

Prosecutors said the drug ring appears to have been generating large
amounts of money and likely has been in operation for some time.

"It's fair to say that there was drug involvement by all concerned," Ebert
said. "These people don't fit the stereotype that we have for drug dealers,
but drugs extend to all segments of society. It's unusual for us to see
people in this social category involved with this much drugs."