POLICE TARGET DRUG DEALERS

16 Arrested In Operation Dragnet; Warrants Remain For 21 Others

For the second time in less than a year, armed police officers swept
through the Charleston peninsula in an effort to cripple drug sales in the
city's neighborhoods.

Tuesday's sweep - dubbed Operation Dragnet - targeted 37 suspects described
by Charleston police as low-level drug dealers. By the end of the
operation, police arrested 16 people and were still looking for the
remaining 21.

The raid came more than nine months after Operation Mayday, a precisely
plotted crackdown that targeted a thriving heroin distribution network on
Charleston's East Side. Mayday, spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney's Violent
Crime Task Force, combined the efforts of federal, state and local police
in a sweep that led to 43 arrests.

Mayday was one of the largest drug raids in the city's history, involving
officers from 11 law-enforcement agencies. Tuesday's operation, conducted
entirely by Charleston police, employed some of the same tactics. Officers
moved into neighborhoods, quickly grabbing suspects and searching for drugs
while a helicopter provided air support. As in Mayday, officers used a
thick book of mug shots to help identify their quarry.

Operation Dragnet - led by Lt. Richard Vance - moved beyond the East Side
heroin trade to encompass other drugs and neighborhoods as well. Police
refused to say how many officers were involved in the sweep, but officers
came from the department'snarcotics, foot patrol, K-9, uniform and SWAT
team units.

The investigation began more than three months ago after residents called
complaining about drug dealers in their neighborhoods. This led officers to
target four areas: America and South streets; Norman and Allway streets;
Rose Lane and Spring, Bogard, Sires streets; and Cooper, Line, Aiken and
Nassau streets.

"The reason we did these was because of the complaints from people in the
neighborhoods that drugs were being sold. They wanted us to do something
about it. So we did," said police spokesman Charles Francis.

The resulting effort began around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday when the officers -
with 37 warrants in hand - began their search. By the end of the sweep
seven hours later, police had made 16 arrests.

Two suspects were already in the Charleston County jail Tuesday on other
charges. Another suspect was arrested when he showed up at Charleston
Municipal Court, located behind the police department.

The arrests of the remaining 13 spanned the peninsula from Hampstead Square
to Norman Street to South Street. Some were nabbed at home, while others
were picked up on the street.

Most of the charges against them are drug related and range from
distributing crack cocaine to distributing marijuana to trafficking heroin.

Police also served a search warrant at a residence on Cannon Street where
officers found 62 small bags of heroin with a street value of $2,500, two
full bottles of methadone, six empty bottles of methadone and $830 in cash.
Another search warrant on Aiken Street produced four pistols, one rifle,
syringes, a smoking pipe and $8,700 in cash. "This was considered a
shooting gallery (for drugs)," Francis said.

Those arrested in Tuesday's sweep are:

Daryl Royale, 21; Ricardo Jones, 19; David Singleton, 31; James Hill, 35;
Orlander Whitley, 35; Coretha Singleton, 37; Janet Collins, 49; Manuel S.
Young, 23; Horace B. Taylor, 20; David Green, 28; Steven Maurice Alston,
35; Jamie Davis, 32; and Maurice Young, 24; all of Charleston. Also
arrested was Kenyatta Thompson, 27, of North Charleston.

Chaz Burkett, 18, of Ladson was arrested on weapons charges, and Algernon
Young, 21, of Charleston was charged with assaulting an officer and
hindering an officer serving a warrant.

In addition to the drug offenses, Green and Thompson also were charged with
escape after police said they tried to run while they were being unloaded
from the paddy wagon at the police station, Francis said.

Maurice Young, who faces drug charges, also was charged with resisting arrest.

Some who watched police arrest Algernon and Maurice Young at the corner of
Columbus Street and Hampstead Square said the officers were abusive.

George Evans, Maurice Young's father, said an officer hit his son in the
head before slamming him to the pavement. While Young was one the ground,
another officer put his knee on Young's head, causing it to bleed, Evans said.

"I said 'Why ya'll got to beat him.' " Evans said, adding his son was not
resisting. "They didn't say anything. They just picked up him up and put
him in the paddy wagon."

Francis said an officer was punched by Algernon Young before other officers
came to assist him. Then, "they used adequate force to get them under
control," he said. He would not elaborate on how the officers gained control.

The officer involved will complete a "use of force" report, which is
standard after any officer uses force. The report leads to an
investigation, Francis said.

The confrontation between the police and the Youngs was the talk inside the
Columbus Street Quick Stop later Tuesday. Myrah Williams, who runs the
store with her brother, didn't like hearing about someone getting hit, but
she was encouraged by news of the arrests. "If it cleans up the street of
all the drugs and guns, that's fine with me," she said.

Some neighbors said Tuesday's effort won't make a difference in the area's
drug trade. More dealers will take the place of those nabbed, they said,
just like they did after Operation Mayday.

After Operation Mayday, authorities claimed that the crackdown had crushed
the area's rampant heroin trade. But several months later, a number of
residents complained that the bust hadn't brought about the kind of
thorough and lasting changes they had hoped to see. Some residents claimed
Operation Mayday simply shifted the area's drug activity to new locations
and that new dealers had arrived to fill the vacuum created by the arrests.
Another complaint was that the operation focused on heroin, while drugs
such as crack cocaine remained a problem.

Police said they were aware of the problem and planned to do something
about it.

Tuesday's operation showed police were true to their word, some residents said.

The Rev. Warren Murdock, pastor of Mount Carmel United Methodist Church,
was elated Tuesday as he watched the police sweep from his office at the
Cooper and Sheppard streets - one of the areas targeted by Operation Dragnet.

"The police officers did a beautiful job. It was something that was
definitely needed," he said. "This really lets the drug dealers coming in
from other areas know that they are not allowed to come here and do
business on this side of town."

Murdock said drug dealers had preyed on the neighborhood, which is home to
some elderly and handicapped citizens who were ill-prepared to fight back.

"Some of them became hostages in their own homes," he said.

East Side resident Joseph Watson, who played a major role in encouraging
Mayday, said residents need to work more closely with police and devote
time to steering young people away from a life of drugs.

"Police are still stepping up and they are still doing a lot for the
community," he said. "Now we need for the community to take control of it
and make sure it doesn't come back here."