ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 18, 1996 TAG: 9606180068
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A resident living near Westview Cemetery said he and his neighbors can sit and watch as people openly sell crack cocaine in the parking lot of a nearby apartment building.
Business is especially brisk on Friday nights and the drug market has been active for nearly two years, the man said.
The resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said drug arrests on Monday make him feel optimistic that this is the beginning of the end of drugs in his west Radford neighborhood.
"We just took a stand in this neighborhood and said 'This is not going to happen here,'" the man said.
Radford police said that shortly after 10 a.m. Monday officers began arresting the people they believe are responsible for selling crack cocaine in the 600 block of Pendleton Street.
By afternoon, officers had four people in custody, according to Capt. Gary Harmon.
Harmon said three of the four people arrested were juveniles. Of the teen-agers, there were two males, ages 15 and 17, and one 17-year-old female, he said.
The only adult arrested was Mark Anthony Williams, 19, who was arrested on two counts of distribution of cocaine. Williams lives in an apartment in the 600 block of Pendleton Street. Last month, he was at a neighbor's apartment when a woman was pistol-whipped and robbed, according to police. Officers have made no arrests for that attack.
A special grand jury was called Friday, Harmon said, and 17 direct indictments were returned against 11 people for selling drugs. The indictments are the result of a lengthy investigation where the public played a major role.
Harmon said police officers worked day and night gathering evidence for the indictments. He would not release the names of the seven people left to be arrested, but said almost all of the charges against the group are for the distribution of crack cocaine. Additional charges include distribution of marijuana, he said.
Police Chief A.C. Earles praised the neighborhood residents for helping police.
"The cooperation of the citizens of west Radford greatly contributed to this undercover operation. We received information from citizens on an almost daily basis. Citizen involvement is a big deterrent to crime and this should certainly send a message to those who choose to sell drugs in Radford," Earles said in a press release.
Earles stressed that the investigation into drug problems in the Pendleton Street area is ongoing. Anyone with information about any crime should call the Crime Line at 731-3627.
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