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Cops nab five on drug charges
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police arrested five people on drug charges Thursday in four separate incidents, including two who tried to run away and one person who reports said admitted selling drugs while her husband is in prison.
About 8 p.m., officers Mark Sember and James Cline saw a car run a stop sign at East Boston Avenue and Rush Boulevard on the South Side. When they tried to pull it over, the car did not stop until it pulled into the drive of a vacant home in the 100 block of East Boston Avenue and the driver, Carl Moore, 46, of Youngstown ran away behind the vacant home.
Cline began chasing Moore while Sember ordered a front-seat passenger, Lorea Valentine, 38, to stay in the car, reports said. Reports said Cline was able to catch Moore after Moore tripped and fell over a large tree branch and possibly suffered a broken arm.
When Moore was searched, police found a bag of suspected marijuana in his pocket and a bag of suspected crack cocaine under the driver’s door of the car, reports said.
Reports said a records check showed Moore has a suspended license and a warrant for driving under suspension. Valentine has two warrants, and when police searched her purse, they found a burnt spoon and four crack pipes.
Moore was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital before he was taken to the Mahoning County jail. Besides the warrants and the charges he picked up Thursday, Just before 6 p.m., police arrested Denise Thurston, 30, of Youngstown on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of heroin, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana at her home in the 3600 block of Loveland Avenue.
Moore was not arraigned Friday because he was receiving treatment for his arm injury.
Reports said officer Nick Bailey and his police dog, Niko, were sent to the South Side home to assist members of the Adult Parole Authority, who were performing a home visit with Thurston.
Reports said that when questioned, Thurston admitted she had drugs and showed officers a bag of suspected heroin and a bag with 96 pills inside. Officer Michael Burnich was called to assist, and in a bedroom, a man was found hiding under the bed, reports said.
The bedroom was searched, and police found two more bags of suspected heroin and a bag of suspected cocaine. Reports said Thurston told police and parole agents the drugs were hers and she was selling them while her husband is in prison.
Parole agents arrested the man, Michael Allen, 26, of Youngstown on two parole violations and took him to jail.
Thurston’s bond was set at $15,000 at her arraignment Friday.
About 1:45 p.m., police took Teresa Whitehead, 41, into custody at her North Side home in the 400 block of Catalina Avenue after vice squad and Community Police Unit officers were there to investigate a complaint the home had no running water.
The homeowner, James Hopson, 72, was taken into custody on a warrant for violating ordinances dealing with removing litter and weeds.
Whitehead had a warrant for possession of marijuana. When she was taken into custody, she told officers she had a rock of suspected crack cocaine in her pants. She was arraigned Friday on the warrant and a possession-of-cocaine charge. Her bond was set at $10,000.
At noon, vice squad officers Jimmy Hughes Jr. and James Welch spotted a car driven by Derrick L. Duvall, 42, of Youngstown make an improper turn at Samuel Street and Gibson Avenue on the South Side. Reports said instead of pulling over, the car sped away and pulled into a drive in the 700 block of Pasadena Avenue.
Duvall ran onto the porch and tried to open the door and was tackled after he tried to pull away from an officer who was arresting him, reports said. During the arrest, he threw two pieces of folded paper into the home. Reports said police found two doses of suspected heroin where Duvall threw the paper, and there was a crack pipe in his car.
Duvall was arraigned Friday on charges of possession of heroin, resisting arrest, driving under suspension and two warrants. His bond was set at $26,000.