Five arrested in Mason St. raid get court date on drug charges

NILES -- Five people charged during a drug raid at a Mason Street house known to both police and neighbors will appear Monday in municipal court.
Those charged are the homeowner of 519 Mason, Charles A. Whittaker, 45, possession of a controlled substance; Roger B. Barnes, 55, who lived at the house, trafficking in drugs; John J. Bonanno, 44, of Ann Street, possession of drug paraphernalia; Brandi Rae Carpenter, 22, of Warren, possession of a controlled substance; and John F. Kennedy of McDonald, possession of drug paraphernalia.
Whittaker is being held on $25,000 bond, and Carpenter, on $5,000 bond. The others were released after posting bonds.
Nuisance house
Police Chief Bruce Simeone said the house was a nuisance because of the drug activity, and about a dozen drug buys were made by police at the house leading up to the raid Wednesday afternoon.
Simeone said the house was boarded up under the Project Phoenix, which allows drug houses to be boarded up for a year in hopes drug dealing in the neighborhood will be reduced.
Police seized $1,800 cash, a gun and OxyContin, a painkiller, in the raid.
The house has been the target of two previous raids. Whittaker has been indicted by the Trumbull County grand jury on drug charges and is awaiting trial.
The house has been the source of complaints by neighbors at city council meetings. They complained of drug peddling and prostitution in the neighborhood.