DATE: Monday, July 7, 1997                  TAG: 9707070047

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  168 lines

MURDER TRIAL TO INCLUDE BURGLARY EVIDENCE PROSECUTORS SAY A GANG TARGETED DRUG DEALERS' HOMES, AND A VICTIM DIED. THE TRIAL STARTS TODAY.

John E. Bryant profiled potential drug dealers as carefully as a federal drug enforcement agent would.

Bryant took note of expensive cars. He looked for flashy clothes and gold jewelry. He focused on minorities in Hampton Roads.

But according to Virginia Beach prosecutors, he didn't arrest the drug dealers he profiled. He stole from them.

A thief working exclusively within the underground world of illegal drugs, Bryant used his techniques to develop what looked like a foolproof scheme to burglarize the homes of drug dealers.

Bryant and his gang, which has its roots in Portsmouth, raided 11 homes - in Virginia Beach, Hampton and York County - during May and June of 1996, prosecutors argue.

The gang netted several pounds of drugs, hundreds in cash, and an array of stolen material, from guns to cellular phones, before their operation unraveled in a botched burglary that turned into murder, according to court testimony and a prosecutor's memo on the case.

Today, Bryant is scheduled to go on trial on charges of first-degree murder and abduction in the shooting death of Derek L. Creed. A significant part of the commonwealth's case against him will be the pattern of drug dealer burglaries that prosecutors say led to Creed's death.

Bryant, 26, also is charged with robbery, statutory burglary, conspiracy and two weapons violations.

Also charged with Creed's murder is 21-year-old Gregory Fox. He is expected to be tried in September. Another member of Bryant's gang, Herman Williams, 27, has been charged with statutory burglary and conspiracy in connection with Creed's death.

Bryant, Fox and Williams are all jailed in Virginia Beach.

Anthony Wynn, 23, another gang member, is in jail in Portsmouth, where he faces capital murder charges in an unrelated case. He has not been charged in Creed's murder. Bryant's alleged burglary plan was deceptively simple: He and his gang would avoid law enforcement heat by targeting the homes of minority males who were marketing cocaine and marijuana.

Cash, drugs and guns would be plentiful. And the victimized residents would be unlikely to report the theft to police out of fear that they would give away their illegal vocations.

Initially, nobody got hurt, and Bryant's gang almost always came away with money, drugs or guns. Sometimes the gang got all three.

But on June 24, 1996, Bryant's gang allegedly entered Creed's home on April Avenue in Virginia Beach. Unlike most of the other burglary victims, Creed, 25, was home. Moments after the burglary began, prosecutors say, Creed was shot by Bryant in an upstairs room. He died several days later from a gunshot wound to the head.

On June 27, police arrested Williams, of the 3000 block of Dunkirk Ave. in Norfolk. The next day, they arrested Bryant, of the 1300 block of W. 26th St.

In a statement to Virginia Beach police, Williams pointed the finger at Bryant as the triggerman in Creed's murder.

Williams also described in detail for police how Bryant picked the gang's burglary victims.

``Mr. Williams would testify that John Bryant would attempt to profile prospective victims as drug dealers,'' wrote prosecutor Keri Markiewicz in a memorandum to Circuit Judge Alan E. Rosenblatt during a June 30 hearing. ``The defendant would type someone as a drug dealer by the expensive vehicle they drove, the clothes they wore and where they lived and by whether John Bryant had information that the (prospective) victims sold drugs.''

Bryant and other gang members, according to Williams, would then go to the residences that they had identified to confirm that the occupants sold drugs. ``After asking to buy some drugs from these residences, John Bryant and his group would leave and then return later when it was determined no one was home,'' Markiewicz wrote in her memo. ``The objective was to steal guns, money and drugs from these suspected drug dealers since they would be unlikely to report it.''

After the burglaries, Markiewicz wrote, Bryant ``would divide all the proceeds. Cocaine was sold, marijuana was divided, used and sold, guns were kept, money was divided.''

At the June 30 hearing, Bryant's attorney tried to keep the burglary evidence out of the murder trial, arguing that it was prejudicial and irrelevant. But Judge Rosenblatt disagreed. ``You put them all together, as the commonwealth has, and there is inescapable proof that there are more similarities in this evidence than dissimilarities,'' Rosenblatt said at the hearing just before denying the defense motion to exclude the evidence.

The Bryant gang followed a distinct game plan for each burglary, according to prosecutors. The gang often borrowed a car owned by one of Bryant's girlfriends to drive to the targeted residence, and always used a crowbar to break in the front door. The gang always ransacked the residences, taking anything they thought might be valuable.

At least twice they stole safes found at the residences. Another time they stole clothing.

They got 4 pounds of marijuana at one residence, but frequently they found smaller amounts of both marijuana and cocaine.

Cash amounts varied, ranging from $800 to $21.

Only one other time did the gang find a residence occupied. On May 27 at an apartment on Terrell Lane in Hampton, Bryant and three accomplices encountered Denise Quinn, 27, hiding in a bedroom closet, according to prosecutors.

``Upon entry, John Bryant, who wore a mask, observed a female in the residence, in her closet, and pointed a gun in her face,'' Markiewicz wrote in her memo. ``Ms. Quinn was on the phone and ran. . . . ''

She escaped unhurt.

On June 23 the gang drove to Creed's residence, intending to break in. When they saw a car in the driveway they changed their minds.

The gang returned the next day.

``After observing that the car seen yesterday was now gone, the four males broke into the home with the use of a crowbar from the vehicle the defendant used,'' Markiewicz wrote in her memo.

Once in the residence, Williams told police, Bryant and another of the burglars went upstairs. Williams told police that he heard rustling noises from the upstairs, and two gunshots.

According to Markiewicz's memo, Williams told police that ``While leaving the scene of the murder, John Bryant confessed to the shooting.''

The memo said a cellular telephone taken from Creed's residence was recovered from Anthony Wynn, the gang member who is in the Portsmouth jail on an unrelated charge.

Creed differed from the typical Bryant victim only in his death, according to Markiewicz's memo.

``For each offense, the objective was to steal drugs, money and guns,'' Markiewicz wrote. ``John Bryant would target people who he believed to be drug dealers. . . . Each victim was a minority. . . . With almost no exception, each victim was male. . . . With almost no exception, each victim had an expensive vehicle.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

John E. Bryant: Prosecutors say his gang almost always got money,

drugs or guns.

THE BURGLARIES

Here is a list of burglaries committed by John E. Bryant's gang,

according to documents filed by prosecutors in Virginia Beach:

1. 125 Two Turkey Run, York County. On June 16, 1996, the home of

Jose Rodriguez, 27, was broken into by John Bryant, Gregory Fox,

Anthony Wynn and Herman Williams. Guns, money, jewelry and other

items were taken. The bedrooms were ransacked.

2. Tall Pine Road, Hampton. On June 18, 1996, Bryant, Fox, Wynn

and Williams went to Building 16, Apartment E. The victim was

Hasem Mills, 26. The bedroom was ransacked. Nothing was taken.

3. Royyag Town Homes, Hampton. Sometime in June 1996 the home of

Derrick Gaston, 23, was broken into by Bryant, Wynn, Fox, Williams

and another suspect. The upstairs bedrooms were ransacked. Four

pounds of marijuana, $800 and a gun were stolen.

4. Avalon Apartments on Terrell Lane, Hampton. On May 27, 1996,

the home of Denise Quinn, 27, was broken into by Bryant, Wynn,

Williams and another suspect.

5. Pacific Avenue, Hampton. Sometime in June 1996, the home of

Brenda Shields and Rodney Shields, 23, was broken into by Bryant,

Wynn and Williams. A safe containing bullets and cocaine was taken.

The bedroom was ransacked.

6. 5536 Old Guard Crescent, Virginia Beach. On June 21, 1996, the

home of Stephen Pearson was broken into by Bryant, Wynn and

Williams. The master bedroom was ransacked, but nothing was taken.

7. 5608 Campus Drive, Virginia Beach. On June 18, 1996, the home

of Andrew Barnes, 24, was broken into by Bryant, Wynn, Fox, Williams

and another suspect. Four bags of marijuana, $300 and a handgun were

taken. The residence was ransacked.

8. 317 Wexford Drive, Virginia Beach. On June 16, 1996, the home

of Steve Smith, 23, was broken into by Bryant, Wynn, Fox, Williams

and another suspect. The bedroom was ransacked. Guns and clothing

were stolen.

9. 5473 Davis Way, Virginia Beach. On June 15, 1996, the home of

Dewevia D. Redd, 25, was broken into by Bryant, Wynn, Fox, Williams

and another suspect. A gun, a safe and money were taken. The

bedrooms were ransacked.

10. 1375 Battleford Drive, Virginia Beach. Sometime in June 1996,

the home of Teckla Heposon was broken into by Bryant, Fox and

Williams. The home was ransacked. A gun was stolen.

11. April Avenue, Virginia Beach. On June 24, 1996, Bryant,

Williams, Fox and Wynn broke into the home of Derek L. Creed, 25.

The bedrooms were ransacked. A cellular phone was stolen. This

burglary, prosecutors say, resulted in the fatal shooting of Creed. KEYWORDS: MURDER DRUG DEALERS BURGLARY

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