War On Drugs

More than 100 officers and agents arrest 27 people in 7month investigation
at Akron public housing

Warrants allege sale of cocaine

Twentyseven people were arrested yesterday for allegedly selling drugs in
and around Akron public housing following a sevenmonth investigation by
the Summit County Sheriff's Department.

Undercover narcotics detectives made 130 drug buys during the
investigation, most of them in public housing units and surrounding
neighborhoods on Akron's north and south sides, Sheriff Richard L.
Warren said.

More than 100 law enforcement officers fanned out across the city
yesterday morning to serve 11 search warrants and 38 arrest warrants.

Twentythree adults and two juveniles were charged with selling
cocaine. Two adults were charged with drug abuse.

During the investigation, dubbed ``Operation Safe Home,'' detectives
spent $18,000 buying drugs and guns in and around Akron Metropolitan
Housing Authority properties.

``The message is that drugs and illegal activity will not be tolerated
in public housing,'' AMHA Executive Director Tony O'Leary said
yesterday afternoon at a press conference attended by Warren and other
law enforcement officials. ``We want public housing to be safe and an
attribute not a detriment to the neighborhoods.''

A halfdozen suspects who were AMHA tenants were locked out of their
homes and apartments yesterday following their arrests, O'Leary said.
If convicted, they will be barred from public housing for life.

Earlier in the day, neighbors gathered to watch as a heavily armed
sheriff's SWAT team battered through the front door of a home on West
Miller Avenue, near the AMHAoperated Summit Lake Apartments.

One woman, standing across the street holding the hand of her
preschoolage daughter, smiled when she saw handcuffed suspects in the
custody of deputies.

``This is my neighborhood and I don't want dope down here,'' said the
woman, who refused to give her name because she fears reprisals from
drug dealers. ``How would you like it in your neighborhood? God bless
the police. I hope they arrest all the drug dealers.''

Informants give tips

Investigators said they didn't initially target public housing, but
merely followed up leads provided by informants.

Sgt. Rick Dodds, who supervised the investigation, said several
suspects snared by the probe are considered to be midlevel crack
cocaine dealers in Akron.

Several smaller dealers, members of two Akron families, were the
primary suppliers of crack cocaine in the area of the Summit Lake
apartments on Akron's south side and the Elizabeth Park Homes off
North Howard Street in North Akron, Dodds said.

Warren and Capt. Rick Mullins of the Akron Police Department said they
believe the raids will benefit the neighborhoods by temporarily
lessening the availability of drugs there.

``As we have seen in previous large investigations, there is an
immediate effect of drying up the supply,'' Mullins said. ``Over time,
we anticipate that other people will try to take over and we will go
after them, too.''

Investigators seized nearly 100 doses of crack, $5,861 in cash, five
handguns and a shotgun in yesterday's raids. Small amounts of powder
cocaine, marijuana and two vehicles also were seized.

Several suspects who allegedly sold guns to undercover detectives may
face federal charges.

Patrick Berarducci, a spokesman for the Cleveland office of the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, said evidence about violations of
federal firearms laws will be presented to a federal grand jury.

Among those arrested as a result of the investigation, three suspects
with long criminal records were described by sheriff's detectives and
Akron police as ``substantial drug dealers'' with the ability to make
multipleounce cocaine deals.

They were identified as George Dowdell, 40, of Lane Street; John A.
Reed, 35, of Bellevue Avenue; and Harold D. Logan, 36, of Schiller
Avenue. All were charged with trafficking in cocaine.

Dowdell, known by the street name ``Future Shock,'' was arrested
Saturday by Akron police and charged with trafficking in cocaine.

Dowdell, who operates a drywall company, has two prior convictions for
aggravated trafficking in cocaine.

Logan, who according to deputies drives a 1994 MercedesBenz and a
1997 Cadillac despite being unemployed, has more than 25 prior
arrests. Some of those have led to convictions for receiving stolen
property, burglary, theft and domestic violence, according to records.

Reed, nicknamed ``Buddy,'' is reputed to be a big supplier of crack in
the area of West Miller Avenue, investigators said.

Detectives said they seized $500 when they arrested Reed, who has four
prior convictions for drug abuse and one for aggravated drug
trafficking.

Relatives arrested

Detectives said Dorothy Caldwell, 42, and her son, Robert J. Caldwell,
20, both of West Miller Street, supplied cocaine to residents in the
area of the Summit Lake apartments. Dorothy Caldwell was arrested
yesterday and a warrant was issued for her son.

Four members of another family Deatrice Woodall, 18, of West Miller
Street; Michelle Woodall, 19, of Dean Street; Rosalyn Woodall, 36, of
Lakeshore Boulevard; and Tommy D. Woodall, 25, of West Miller
allegedly supplied crack cocaine in the area of the Summit Lake and
Elizabeth Park allotments. All four were arrested and charged with
trafficking in cocaine.

Investigators seized $3,000 when they searched the apartment of
Reginald Spear, 19, of 119 W. Lods Street in the Elizabeth Park Homes.
Detectives said Spear was one of the main suppliers of crack to the
public housing allotment that they uncovered during their
investigation.

Sheriff's detectives were assisted in yesterday's raids by
investigators from the U.S. Inspector General's Office Task Force;
CenTac, a Summit Countybased drug and organized crime task force;
detectives and SWAT officers from the Akron Police Department and ATF.

Drug dogs from the sheriff's department as well as the Hudson and Stow
police departments searched the raided homes.

A halfdozen children who were at home at the time of the raids were
placed in the custody of relatives or with the Summit County Children
Services Board.

One undercover officer said several suspects brought their children
with them when they sold drugs.

``These kids would be there and their mothers would be talking about
money and cocaine,'' the undercover officer said.