Wayne NET makes 26 drug arrests this morning

A countywide police initiative aimed at putting a dent in the drug trade in Wayne County concluded today with the arrest of 26 people on various drug charges.

At 6 a.m. today, more than 60 police officers from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies fanned out across Wayne County to execute indictment warrants for people involved in the sale and distribution of illegal drugs, mostly crack cocaine.

Police described today's operation as the first of many to come, and one of the largest in Wayne County history.

The sweep, designated Operation Cooperation, is part of the Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Teams (WayneNET) involvement in New York States Operation IMPACT grant program, which funds initiatives to rid the community of drug trafficking and related crimes, and drive down the violent crime rates in these communities.

WayneNET was formed in February of 2006 as a collaborative crime reduction effort under the direction of the Wayne County Association of Police Chiefs. Its primary mission is to combat drug trafficking in the member towns and villages, and to provide assistance to other narcotics enforcement units operating in the Wayne County area. WayneNET was assisted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (Rochester), State Police, New York State Division of Parole, Wayne County Probation Department, Wayne County Sheriffs Office, Finger Lakes Drug Task Force, and Ontario County Sheriff's Office.

Members of NET are Clyde, Lyons, Macedon, Newark, Palmyra, Sodus, Sodus Point and Wolcott Police Departments, and the District Attorney's office.

Participating police agencies and officers attended a pre-dawn briefing in Newark, then broke into small groups to descend upon wanted criminals throughout Wayne County. The drug sweep is the culmination of hundreds of police man-hours over the past five months, into the street-level drug trade in and around Wayne County. Many of the investigations were launched in response to citizen complaints.

Arrested for Felony Criminal Sale and Possession of Controlled Substances (cocaine) are:

Antonio Rosario, 17, of 10 Rice Street, Lyons; Lewis Knight, 33, of 56 Osborne Street, Auburn; Lamar Wiggins, 20, of 166 Canal Street, Lyons; Prentiss Jones, 20, of 79 Sodus Street, Clyde; Yadiel Correa, 18, of 121 Geneva Street, Lyons; Richard Anaya, 24, of 112 Lillie Street, Newark; Claudy Garcia, 25, of 143 Route 88 South, Newark; Francis Murray, 44, of 64 Canal Street, Lyons (also charged with criminal sale and possession of an imitation controlled substance); Jason Perry, 31, of 120 Driving Park Circle, Newark; Michael Kelley, 30, of 633 South Main Street, Newark; Kenneth Barber, 22, of 12 Main Street, Sodus; Frankie Louder, 24, of 5828 New Hartford Street, Wolcott; Nick Wyatt, 23, 13981 State Street, Red Creek; Rowley Griffin Egnor, of 5949 Jefferson Avenue, Wolcott; John Currington, of 8364 Ridge Road, Sodus.

Louder and Osario were arrested at the Wayne County Jail, where they were awaiting proceedings on other criminal charges. Knight was picked up at a halfway house in Auburn, where he was completing his sentence for a prior drug conviction. Wiggins was arrested after he led police on a foot chase, wearing only boxer shorts, as he jumped out a window to avoid arrest.

Arrested for Criminal Sale of Marijuana:

John Granger, 31, of 2537 Arcadia-Zurich-Norris Road, Newark; Kaleb Thomas, 17, of 6488 Redman Road, Williamson; Anthony Canady, 23, of 4056 Ridge Road, Williamson.

They were arraigned before Wayne County Court Judge Dennis M. Kehoe, and remanded to the Wayne County Jail.

Arrested for unlawful possession of marijuana and released with appearance tickets:

Erica L. Britt, 19, of 4056 Main Street, Apt. 4, Williamson; and James Penta, Jr., 20, of 13981 State Street, Red Creek.

In a related detail, police executed search warrants at two apartments at 6300 West Port Bay Road, Wolcott, Wednesday evening.

Arrested for drug possession were: James Taylor, 35, Clarence Jackson, 54, and Randy Valcore, 42, residing at that address. A quantity of cocaine and marijuana was seized in the operation. Russell O'Dell, 36, was also arrested on an indictment warrant for sale and possession of cocaine.

In Sodus, police arrested Christopher L. Monroe, 29, of 113 Florida Avenue, Dundee, FL, for possession of cocaine with intent to sell. He was found to have several bags of crack cocaine packaged for sale.

November 30, WayneNET and NYS Parole officers arrested Patrick O. Snyder, 33, of 204 Prospect Street, Newark, for possession of cocaine with intent to sell and possession of marijuana. Snider, a parolee, had more than one ounce of crack cocaine packaged for sale and a quantity of marijuana, after he was stopped for a traffic violation in Newark. Snider was arraigned and remanded to jail.

Additional arrests are pending.

According to a law enforcement spokesman: 'This is going to have a positive impact on the rural character of our communities, as illegal drug use and sales is responsible for a lot of the crime and violence that occurs in our towns and villages. The biggest significance of this cooperative effort is the fact that as a multi-agency team we've gone beyond the borders of our individual jurisdictions. But we've only scratched the surface of a growing problem facing communities across this and other rural counties. As the demand increases, so does the workload of our group (WayneNET). Our goal is to continue to work with the stakeholders in our communities and partner law enforcement agencies until the problem is eliminated. Our message to those who choose to deal drugs in Wayne County is - You will get caught.'

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