A routine call to police about two suspicious looking men in a car outside an apartment complex on Burkhall Street turned into a major drug raid that yielded 6,700 Oxycodone pills with a street value of over $200,000 on Feb. 10.
“This is just an example of how a uniformed patrol can uncover significant drug activity,” said Police Chief Richard Grimes. “It is not always a drug unit that is taxed with drug enforcement. It is every aspect of law enforcement.”
The bust occurred when Lt. Jack Burke and Officer Michael Symes responded to call from a concerned resident shortly before 11:50 a.m.
“Upon their arrival, both Officer Symes and Lt. Burke approached the vehicle on foot to investigate,” said Lt. Rick Fuller. “When the officers reached the vehicle and identified themselves, both males in the vehicle panicked.”
He said one of the men reached for an object that looked like a handgun in the car’s center console.
“One of the males reached for the item and the officers grabbed him before he could get to the weapon,” Fuller said. “The weapon turned out to be a hatchet that had a magnetic knife release on the handle that appeared to be the butt of a gun. At that point, both males were removed from the vehicle and secured by the officers.”
Police charged John Dalton, 29, of 160 Burkhall St., Weymouth and Joshua Steacy from Bellwood Road, Framingham with trafficking in Oxycodone, conspiracy to violate the state’s drug laws, committing a drug violation near a school and carrying a dangerous weapon.
The drug trafficking charge carries a minimum mandatory jail term of 15 years.
Police reported finding $20,000 in cash in a bag inside the car and Oxycodone in another bag.
“A subsequent search of the vehicle by narcotics detectives that had been called to the scene revealed a sophisticated electronic hide in the vehicle that the suspects were sitting in,” Fuller said. “The electronic hide contained several thousand more Oxycodone pills. Narcotics detectives also conducted a search of John Dalton’s residence and located a money counter along with another large quantity of money.”
Grimes said the alertness Symes and Burke displayed while investigating the suspects put a significant dent in the sale of unlawful narcotics on the South Shore.
“To uncover this is a great asset for drug enforcement efforts in this community,” he said.
Police additionally seized two cell phones from the suspects.
Grimes said two of the phones rang nonstop after officers took possession of them.
Steacy and Dalton pleaded not guilty to the charges during their arrangement in Quincy District Court on Feb. 11.
Bail was initially set for the suspects at $75,000, but Judge Kenneth Fishman later reduced it to $10,000 after a bail hearing in Norfolk County Superior Court.
The drug bust was widely applauded by Mayor Susan Kay and East Weymouth Neighborhood Association members during a meeting on Feb. 25.
“They were clapping greatly,” said Kay who met with the neighborhood group. “This is such a positive move in our war on drugs. The significance of this arrest is incredible because Officer Michael Symes and Lt. Jack Burke conducted such a thorough investigation. They went beyond a simple call and it resulted in the arrests.”
Kay said the officers’ work is a credit to themselves, the police drug unit and Fuller.
“They are committed to ridding this town of illegal drugs,” she said. “The arrests also show how committed Chief Grimes is. He realizes how serious the drug problem is. I am proud of the entire police department.”
Kay said the alertness of Symes and Burke noticing the hatchet prevented themselves from being killed.
“They had a great eye for detail,” she said. “ The community should be happy about what happened. This is not just a great find for Weymouth. It was a find for the entire South Shore. Hopefully it will give incentive to all our police in the nearby communities to communicate with each other so that we can rid the South Shore of these drugs. Hopefully the courts will follow through. It is important to note that getting the money from the suspects was good because that is where it hurts them. We take the problem of drug abuse seriously and we won’t quit.”
http://www.wickedlocal.com/weymouth/features/x1570102866/Routine-call-leads-to-major-drug-arrests
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