Police ‘fool’ accused dealers
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 5, 2000
LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / April 5, 2000
HAHNVILLE – “Operation April Fools” burst upon suspected street-level drug dealers in St. Charles Parish Tuesday morning, with 27 people sought all overSt. Charles Parish.Ten suspects were in custody as of press time.
“We just wanted to do a quick follow up to Operation Heartbreak and hit them twice, but we couldn’t get the jail space right away,” Sheriff Greg Champagne said, referring to the Feb. 11 drug racketeering case which rounded up 22suspects in the Des Allemands area.
This time, only St. Charles Parish’s undercover drug enforcement agentswere involved, making cases for 30 warrants, Capt. Patrick Yoes added.The charges include distribution of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, aimed at street-level crack cocaine dealers.
Arrestees include: Percey Hills, 30, 1022 Paul Fredrick St., Luling, possession of cocaine. Kevin Bartley, 36, 210 Trails Way Drive, Hahnville, distribution of crack cocaine.
Bernell Woods, 37, 178 Nedd Lane, Paradis, distribution of crack cocaine.
Trinesha Ingram, 25, 908 Paul Fredrick St., Luling, possession ofmarijuana.
Garrett Dugas, 19, 228 Wade St., Luling, possession of marijuana andpossession of drug paraphernalia.
Carlos Doursey, 36, 342 S. Kinler St., Boutte, distribution of cocaine. Freddie Carter, 28, 702 Paul Fredrick St., Luling, distribution of cocaine. Kerry Brown, 22, 908 Paul Fredrick St., Luling, possession of marijuana. Karsten Kirk, 26, 150 Cathy St., Norco, distribution of cocaine. Tyrome Scott, 40, 139 East St., Norco, distribution of cocaine.”Originally, we wanted to do it after Mardi Gras but we had to wait for available cells,” Yoes continued, and added that problem should be relieved by the completion of the new parish correction center, now under construction on Louisiana Highway 3127 near Killona.
Several months of undercover work generated the warrants for Operation April Fools, arrests for which began at 5 a.m. Tuesday. Additional arrestsare expected, Yoes said.
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