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YPD nabs 37 bags of heroin, almost $2k, in traffic stop
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Two officers found 37 bags of heroin and about $1,800 in a traffic stop Wednesday.
The day before, the same officers helped to find a gun and arrest a man purportedly selling marijuana in a South Avenue parking lot.
D’Andre Parker, 29, of South Lakewood Avenue, is in the Mahoning County jail on charges of possession of heroin, possession of drugs, and driving under suspension. He is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.
Parker was arrested about 3:35 p.m. Wednesday after he was pulled over by officers Mohammad Awad and Michael Manis at South and East Florida avenues for making an improper turn.
Reports said a records check showed that Parker has a suspended license and also two warrants from municipal court for failure to appear. A strong odor of burnt marijuana came from the car, and officer Jessica Shields and her police dog, Hector, were called in to assist.
Inside the car, officers first found a dose of suspected heroin, then 37 other bags of a white powder. The powder was tested Thursday and was determined to be heroin, said Lt. Gerard Slattery, head of the vice squad.
Slattery said there were about 60 grams of heroin total with a street value of $4,000.
The officers also found 169 Tramadol pills and $1,826 in cash. Tramadol is an opiate-based painkiller.
On Tuesday, Awad and Manis, along with officer Travis Sheely, arrested Michael Stanley, 23, of Charlotte Street, after receiving complaints about people going in and out of a car parked in front of a pizza shop in a 2608 South Ave. parking lot. Inside the car they found two large bags of marijuana and a loaded .40-caliber handgun, along with $686 in cash, giving police $2,572 seized in two days of drug arrests. Last week, police seized more than $8,000 in drug arrests.
Stanley is in the Mahoning County jail on $75,000 bond.
Manis was sworn in as an officer Jan. 22 and is in his second week of training on the road with Awad, his training officer.
According to Vindicator files, police have arrested 22 people on heroin-related charges this year. That does not include people caught with needles or other items used to take heroin but not the actual drug.
Police Chief Robin Lees credited the recent stops in drug cases to the “proactive” work of officers in the patrol division, although he credited residents for Tuesday’s arrest because several people called 911. He said when vast amounts of money are found, they are almost always linked to drug activity, especially when the drugs are stored in such a way that they are ready to be sold immediately.