HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP - - Sheriff's deputies arrested four out-of-state residents last Friday night on Interstate 90 at the Lake-Ashtabula county line for drug-related offenses.
While patrolling the area, Deputy Tony Mino observed a car filled with four men and one woman swerving over the center line. Mino made a routine traffic stop after observing the car slowing down from 65 to 55 mph. Mino and other law-enforcement officers assisting found drugs, including crack cocaine and marijuana, on the driver and several passengers.
Charged with trafficking in crack cocaine, possession of crack cocaine and possession of criminal tools were the driver, Leroy S. Gaines, 35, of 16 Olympic Village, Chicago Heights, Ill.; Jamaand JB Greenwood, 25, of 1672 Hickory St., Chicago Heights, Ill.; Michael Gaines, 32, of 1161 Eastlake Road, Erie, Pa.; and James R. Chapman, 51, of 667 Euclid Ave., Erie, Pa. The suspects first told Mino they were returning from a family reunion, then changed their story at the county jail after being questioned about drugs found inside the vehicle.
Mino was assisted in the arrests and vehicle search by several other deputies and an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer.
All four men appeared in Western County Court Monday with bonds set by Judge Richard Stevens. Bonds of $30,000 each were set for Leroy Gaines, Greenwood and Chapman. A $25,000 bond was set for Michael Gaines, a court spokesman said. None of the defendants was able to post bond, and they were returned to jail.
Stevens appointed attorneys to represent the defendants after finding them indigent. He set their preliminary hearings for Monday.
Charges are being reviewed by the Ashtabula County Prosecutor's Office on the 22-year-old woman passenger present at the time of the men's arrests. She was released by deputies after questioning.
Star Beacon Print Edition: 8/7/2007
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Deputies arrest suspects for drugs in I-90 traffic stop
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