The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and Alexandria Police Department, in recent days, have rounded up several people in a joint undercover drug investigation.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says this investigation has been underway for about a month. “Alexandria Police Chief Mark Collins and I had been talking about doing some work together and he approached me a while back with the idea of using a lady the city was planning to hire as a patrol officer to do some undercover work. We put her in the Alexandria housing project where she worked for a while and then we put her at another place in the county and let her do some undercover work there. She bought dilaudid, hydrocodone, xanax, and prescription drugs from these defendants. This was a cooperative effort between our departments and it’s one of many that Chief Collins and I hope to do.”
Chief Collins says this investigation was very productive. ” As far as I’m concerned, it was a success. I saw the opportunity to use an actual police officer, rather than someone else, as an undercover agent. This officer, Regina Parker, was able to observe and gather intelligence for us on other cases. We went forward with this, made several buys, and have made several arrests. The information that we have gathered will help us make more arrests in the future. Parker has been a law enforcement officer for about eight years. She is highly qualified and has done a lot of undercover work for the Berry Hill and Metro-Nashville Police Departments. She came on board with me in June and we put her right into the housing project. She sacrificed a lot of her personal life. She pretty much had two lives, an undercover life and a home life, but she met this challenge greatly and I commend her. She did a good job making friends and fitting in and was able to buy from some well known drug dealers that we’ve been trying to get for a long time.”
Sheriff Ray and Chief Collins say the Alexandria Police Department and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, on June 22nd, sent the undercover officer into an Alexandria business located on Highway 70. The officer was offered marijuana from 46 year old John Pitts Jr. of Nashville Highway, Alexandria. Officers were monitoring the undercover officer and stormed the building. After entering the building, officers found a bag of marijuana. Pitts was arrested and his bond was set at $2,500. Pitts has already pled guilty.
On June 30th, the Sheriff’s Department and Alexandria Police Department sent the undercover officer to a room at the Lake Motel on Highway 70 East to purchase Dilaudid. 36 year old Homer Petty of Sparta Highway, Smithville sold a Dilaudid pill to the officer and 44 year old Jimmy Duncan of Sparta Highway assisted in the buy. After Officers conducted a search warrant on Petty’s motel room, Petty was charged with Sale and Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) and possession of Drug Paraphernalia (needles). Petty’s bond was set at $55,000. Duncan was charged with Criminal Conspiracy to Sell and Deliver a Schedule II Drug (Dilaudid) and his bond was set at $25,000.
Others arrested as a result of this undercover investigation are:
36 year old Teresa Ann Hallback of Sparta Pike, Watertown, charged with two counts of Conspiracy to Sell and Deliver a Schedule III Drug (Hydrocodone). Her bond is set at $80,000 and her court date is August 2nd.
39 year old Lisa Gibbs of North Mill Street, Dowelltown, charged with two counts of Criminal Conspiracy to Sell and Deliver a Schedule III Drug (Hydrocodone). Her bond is set at $80.000 and her court date is August 2nd.
41 year old Sandra Atnip of West Main Street, Smithville, charged with Sale and Delivery of a Schedule III Drug (Hydrocodone). Her bond is set at $80.000 and her court date is August 2nd.
More arrests are expected.
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