Source: Akron Beacon Journal Contact: Pubdate: October 30, 1997, Author: Robert Hoiles, Beacon Journal staff writer 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.