Fremont charges five for drugs
By Laura Collins
Published in News on December 30, 2009 1:46 PM
FREMONT -- An ongoing drug investigation resulted in five arrests Tuesday night in Fremont.
The Fremont Police Department has been doing undercover drug buys in Fremont for the past several weeks. Fremont Police Chief R.K. Rawlings said the initiative is an effort to combat a growing drug problem in the town.
"We know that the drug traffic has picked up here in Fremont and we're trying to be aggressive about it and not just answer calls," he said. "We want to hit it off before it gets started because it's getting pretty bad. Anybody can come and buy drugs and that's what we don't want. When we do undercover drug buys, our guys can go out and buy them in no time flat."
Pikeville police and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office assisted in the arrests. The men arrested include:
*Charles Ford, 58, South Sycamore Street, charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine and maintaining a dwelling or residence that is used for keeping and selling a controlled substance. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.
*Dana Lamb, 30, South Goldsboro Street, charged with possession and intent to sell and deliver cocaine. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.
*James Eddie Artis, 60, South Sycamore Street, charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine. He is being held on a $28,000 bond.
*Ronnie Lamont Ford, 56, South Sycamore Street, charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, a crack pipe. He is being held on a $500 bond.
*Chauncey Simms, 53, South Sycamore Street, charged with maintaining a dwelling or residence that is used for keeping and selling a controlled substance, possession and intent to sell and deliver cocaine, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of marijuana. He was held on a $30,000 bond.
As of this morning, Rawlings said all of the men were still in jail except for Simms. He expressed his disappointment in Simms' bond.
"He got a $30,000 bond," Rawlings said. "The man's got a record, what's a $30,000 bond going to do? He was back in Fremont last night before we were. You have a drug dealer with all kinds of cash, he's got a bail bondsman on retainer."
Tuesday night's arrests was only the first part of the police department's crack down on drugs. Rawlings said more warrants will be served and they will continue doing undercover drug buys.
"We know we've got to do something," he said. "We have pharmaceutical pills, the crack trade, the marijuana trade. You can go to one side of town and get your pills and the other side of town and get your weed."
Rawlings added that arresting violators of the controlled substance laws is only half the solution.
"The drug trade in Fremont has been ingrained here for years. The only thing I can try to do is arrest violators, but there's a cultural problem here in Fremont. There's an addiction problem and when there's an addiction there's a big demand and there's going to be supply. It's just plain economics."
He said not only do the drug users need help, but the mindset about dealing drugs in Fremont also needs to change.
"We've got a generational thing here. We have parents selling drugs, children selling drugs and grandchildren selling drugs," he said. "People are looking up to drug dealers in this town. It's sad."