SUSPECT IN DRUG DEALS IS 76

Sold To Grandma, Investigators Say

Police said they found the middleman who supplied a 75-year-old
crack-dealing suspect and other street-level drug pushers in south
Phoenix: a 76-year-old resident of the area.

Authorities on Thursday arrested Sylvester Moses McDavid, describing
him as "a midlevel dealer" who moved from nearly 9 pounds to almost 18
pounds, each month.

Sgt. Dave Harvey, who works in the Drug Enforcement Bureau of the
Phoenix Police Department, said that among McDavid's customers was
Sarah Chandler Jones, a 75-year-old grandmother who was arrested last
month.

McDavid is the third senior citizen arrested in four months on
drug-peddling charges. The third suspect was a 72-year-old man, Harvey
said.

Authorities said that, at the time of his arrest, McDavid had about an
ounce of crack cocaine, which sells for about $350. Two more grams of
crack cocaine, as well as paraphernalia, were found in his home near
19th and Southern avenues, Harvey said.

It was the second time McDavid has been arrested this year. Last
month, state Department of Public Safety officers searched the house
and seized a pound of cocaine, as well as $4,000, Harvey said.

"He was arrested and released the next day," he said.

McDavid's 12-year-old son and two grandchildren, ages 10 and 11, were
living with him at the time of the arrest today; they were turned over
to a family member, police said.