Ex-city fireman caught with crack
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on June 5, 2008 1:47 PM
An active-duty Goldsboro fireman was caught Thursday with a kilogram of powder cocaine after a traffic stop in the city, authorities said.
Keita Rajai Woodard, 26, of a Koonce Street apartment complex, was found with the 2.2 pounds of cocaine on Atlantic Avenue, according to a drug detective who worked the case.
He was fired on Friday, said Fire Chief Alvin Ward.
The detective would not say whether Woodard had been the subject of a lengthy investigation.
A news release said a tip collected through the Crime Stoppers hotline provided assistance in the arrest of Woodard.
After the traffic stop, the firefighter was jailed under a $350,000 bond, charged with one count each of third-level trafficking in cocaine by transportation and possession, according to police.
The arrest was a result of cooperative Wayne-Goldsboro Drug Squad, which pairs Goldsboro Police Depart-ment investigative personnel and resources with the same from the Sheriff's Office.
Ward said he could not comment other than to give Woodard's service record with the department.
"In October of this year, it would have been five years," Ward said, adding that means Woodard was hired with the department sometime in 2003.
"He was a firefighter with the Goldsboro Fire Department, but he is no longer with the department," Ward said. "We ... terminated him on Friday."
Law enforcement said the potential street value of a kilo of cocaine can be as much as $200,000.