YOUNGSTOWN Cops arrest 6 in series of drug raids at homes

In one drug raid, police said they found video equipment used to monitor activity on the street.
YOUNGSTOWN -- An East Side man who was released from incarceration Sunday on a drug offense was back in the Mahoning County jail Friday after city police said they found him with an assault rifle and large amounts of suspected powder cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.
Lee A. Dickerson, 24, of Whitman Lane, was arraigned Friday in municipal court on three felony charges of drug trafficking. He was not charged with a weapon offense.
Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly appointed an attorney and set bond at $10,000 on each charge.
Police reports show Dickerson was arrested after a raid Thursday by the Youngstown Police Vice Squad at a Woodside Avenue residence on the city's East Side.
Also arrested during the raid was a 17-year-old North Side resident, police reports show. The juvenile, of Lauderdale Avenue, was charged with felony trafficking in drugs.
North Side: Two other city men were arrested in a separate raid Thursday afternoon at a Fairgreen Avenue address on the city's North Side.
Officers using a search warrant found suspected crack cocaine and a scale commonly used to weigh drugs, police reports show.
In the dining room of the home was a television used for surveillance; in an upstairs bedroom, police found two cameras aimed at the street. They also found two, two-way radios. The home was sparsely furnished with no food in the kitchen or refrigerator, police said.
Arrested there were Whister Winford, 22, of Chicago Avenue, and Bruce Harris, 29, of West Glenaven Avenue. Each faces one count of felony drug trafficking.
Whister also faces a drug paraphernalia charge to which he pleaded innocent during his arraignment Friday in municipal court. Judge Kobly ordered a $5,000 bond on the felony and appointed an attorney.
Harris also pleaded innocent to a misdemeanor paraphernalia charge. He faces an additional felony weapons count. Judge Kobly ordered bonds totaling $10,000 on the felonies and appointed a lawyer, telling Harris he would be required to reimburse the court for attorney fees.
In other drug raids Thursday:
ULouis Brown Jr., 31, of Hilltop Avenue on the city's East Side, was arrested at a Lora Avenue house on the North Side. Police found suspected marijuana, suspected crack cocaine and $225 in Brown's pants pocket, police reports show. He faces felony charges of drug trafficking and drug abuse.
During his arraignment Friday, Judge Kobly ordered bonds totaling $10,000 and appointed an attorney.
UAlfonso Gregory III, 29, of Naylor Lloyd Road in Liberty, faces a felony drug abuse charge and two misdemeanor drug charges after a 6 p.m. raid on Breaden Street on the city's South Side. Police using a search warrant said he had suspected crack cocaine, reports show. They also found a scale commonly used to weigh drugs in the home and suspected marijuana in a vehicle outside the house. Gregory was also arrested on warrants accusing him of assault and criminal damaging, both misdemeanors, earlier this month.
During his arraignment Friday, Gregory pleaded innocent to the misdemeanors. Judge Kobly set bonds totaling $8,000 and appointed an attorney.
All of the defendants remained in Mahoning County jail in lieu of bond Friday evening.