Manassas Journal Messenger | Six arrested in drug raid
A local narcotics task force arrested six people early Thursday in raids on five Quantico Court apartments on Fuller Heights Road in Triangle.
Warrants for the arrest of three others have been issued.
Working with federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Prince William-Manassas-Manassas Park Vice-Narcotics task force served search warrants before sunrise, taking into custody suspects police said they have been watching for a long but unspecified time.
The months-long narcotics investigation began with area resident complaints about drug sales in the neighborhood.
Most of the people in the apartment complex are law-abiding tenants who are tired of drug deals in their neighborhood, said Detective Dennis Mangan, Prince William police spokesman.
Many of the undercover drug deals took place near the Star of Bethlehem Christian Academy, a private elementary and middle school.
Police arrested the following people:
? Conrad Dewayne Brooks, 22, of 19050 Fuller Heights Road, No. 413, was charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, distributing with 1,000 feet of a school and conspiracy to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school.
? Michael Clay Bunting, 21, of 19050 Fuller Heights Road, No. 125, was charged with distribution of marijuana and distribution within 1,000 feet of a school.
? Matthew Joseph Frances, 19, of 19050 Fuller Heights Road, No. 424, was charged with distributing within 1,000 feet of a school and two counts of distribution of marijuana.
? James Edward Lee Jr., 36, of 19050 Fuller Heights Road, No. 318, was charged with distribution of marijuana, conspiracy to distribute within 1,000 feet of school, conspiracy to distribute marijuana to a minor, seven counts of distribution within 1,000 feet of a school and six counts of distribution of cocaine.?
? Kelvin Dwain VanHook Jr., 24, of 19050 Fuller Heights Road, No. 123, was charged with distribution of marijuana, obtaining money under a false pretense, four counts of distribution of cocaine and five counts of distribution within 1,000 feet of a school.
? Lee Antoin Woodyard, 24, of 19050 Fuller Heights Road, No. 125, was charged with possession of marijuana.
The following people have not been arrested but are wanted by police:
? Bernard Warfield Greenhow, 54, of no fixed address, was charged with attempting to distribute cocaine and attempting to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school.
? Bernard Carl Powe, 27, of no fixed address, was charged with distribution of marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and distribution within 1,000 feet of a school.
? Johnny Martin Smith, 37, of 19050 Fuller Heights Road, No. 423, was charged with distribution of cocaine and distribution within 1,000 feet of a school.
ANATOMY OF A RAID
Officers in full camouflage, helmets and body armor assembled by 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning at the Prince William police Gar-Field substation in Woodbridge. Inside, commanders and vice-squad members reviewed plans and a map of the targeted apartment complex.
Just after 5 a.m., the SWAT truck accompanied by several local and federal police vehicles made its way out of the station. The vehicles headed south on U.S. 1 to a staging area on Fuller Heights Road near the complex, just east of the Quantico Marine Corps base.
Officers, assembled into two lines and led by the local task force, began the walk down toward the rectangular Quantico Court building. The road had been blocked off in both directions.
Each team spread out at the edge of a short, grassy hill and members carrying rifles, shotguns, shields and battering rams crept quietly up the stairs and around bends in the corridors to their appointed spots outside each apartment door.
Officers and agents without full SWAT gear drew their handguns as they reached the top of the building’s northeastern staircase.
Moments later, a loud boom echoed through the complex when officers busted down a door and detonated a “flash bang” — an explosive device that emits intense bursts of light and sound and momentarily debilitates the senses.
An officer used a bull-horn outside one apartment and ordered one suspect to come out with his hands up. The apartment was known to have children inside so officers didn’t break down its door, said 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn, police spokeswoman.
A state police helicopter hovering nearby came in closer to illuminate the apartments and track anyone who might have tried to escaped into the nearby woods.
An elderly woman in the complex called 911 to report chest pains, and once the area was secure, medics evaluated her and determined she did not need medical care.
Concerned residents, one a woman with a toddler in her arms, asked officers on the bottom floor what was happening.
When it was all over, the suspects — some on their knees facing the wall — were cuffed outside the apartments. Police wrapped a bed sheet around one man who was wearing only boxer shorts when officers woke him.
Staff writer Daniel Drew can be reached at (703) 878-8065.