POLICE MAKE DENT IN DRUGS ON S. 4TH STREET

Two of Granny's worst neighbors moved out suddenly Tuesday night,
escorted by police to be guests of the county jail.

Until an overwhelmed judicial system sets them free.

Compared with the usual array of rapists, murderers, baby-beaters and
armed robbers who parade daily through Franklin County Municipal
Court, small-time drug dealers hardly seem bad.

But for six years, gangsters associated with dope-dealing families
have terrorized an entire neighborhood.

Among their victims are Elizabeth Mitchell Dulaney -- or "Granny" as
she prefers -- and her five great-grandchildren.

On Labor Day 1999, Granny -- terrified by an armed gang -- shot one
of the drug dealers and his pal.

She went to prison. The drug dealer followed.

He's out. She's not, though Gov. Bob Taft will soon consider a new
clemency request.

Each night, Granny phones home to talk with her kids and share
evening prayers. Tuesday, their faith paid off.

"Granny, the police are busting in the house across the street."
"Granny, the police are shooting out their windows next door." A
neighbor relayed the children's phone call as Granny told it to him.

As summerlike temperatures hit early in April, gang fighting spilled
onto S. 4th Street.

Police forecast a long, hot summer, and Tuesday night decided to
pre-empt the turf wars.

"It's going to get a lot hotter this summer," promised said Police
Cmdr. William Mattei.

He means for the thugs.

The war on S. 4th Street has been waged in fierce raids and nervous
waits in the three years since Granny shot the drug dealer.

A month after Granny's shooting, police raided the house behind hers
and found the county's largest illegal pill house. Virginia Smith and
her two sons remain in prison.

The street grew quiet for a while, but then dealers who had avoided
the sweep opened up down the block.

Complaints from neighborhood activists, along with Granny's case,
prompted the city to step up patrols.

"We took very seriously the complaints we were hearing from the South
Side," said Deputy Safety Director Gary Holland. "When we came in two
years ago (under the new administration of Mayor Michael B. Coleman)
we began an effort.

"Our intention is to take back those streets."

Police moved in Tuesday, saying they'd scored drugs from the two men
at 1620 S. 4th St.

Police seized $1,060 worth of cocaine (about 53 rocks of crack),
$1,040 in cash, two handguns and a pit bull.

Arrested were Dorsien K. Butler, 20, and Terry N. Bowers, 19, each on
a felony count of drug possession.

Meanwhile, police went next door to 1618 S. 4th St. There, they said,
a boy previously had tried to sell them vamp -- fake cocaine.

Such a swindle, had the customer been genuine, could have ended up
fatal for the child.

The boy wasn't at the house, but a woman inside allowed police to search.

Activists had told police that the two houses -- at 1620 and 1618 --
were "the epicenter" of drug dealing on 4th Street, Mattei said.

No drugs were found at the 1618 address, but police found something
equally interesting.

A hole had been punched through the wall of a closet leading to the
other half of the duplex, 1616 S. 4th, which police had boarded up
after the Virginia Smith raid.

No one was surprised. Neighbors had reported drug deals and
flickering lights from this "vacant" half of the duplex.

A code-enforcement officer -- part of the city's anti-drug team --
began citing violations.

The hole-in-the-wall gang is finally out of business.

Greg Davis, the code officer, said the home was filthy.

"Really, really cluttered, unsanitary conditions, spoiled food, the
toilet upstairs was full and leaking through the ceiling, no lights,
no smoke detectors, I had trouble moving around," he said. "It was so
dark, I couldn't take pictures. It was so cluttered with furniture, I
couldn't move around." A 5-year-old was living there.

Cmdr. Michael Manley said police can do only so much. He noted that
many of those they are now investigating or arresting are
second-generation, even third-generation, criminals.

And there's another reason the police seem unable stop the drug
dealing. Often those arrested (including Butler and Bowers) are
frequent fliers in the court system -- with no convictions, no jail
time.

Instead, the innocent remain locked up in their own homes.