Police Raid Homes in Drug Sweeps

Armed with assault rifles, state city police raided a downtown apartment building Wednesday afternoon in connection with an investigation into a ring of crack cocaine dealers.

Officers lined the intersection of Fifth and Northampton, as police led a line of handcuffed people out of an apartment in the Bartlett building at 10 S. 5th St.

At the same time, police were serving a search warrant at 1007 Butler St., where a woman was taken into custody. Another man was arrested at on Fourth Street after selling crack to an informant, police said.

Easton police Inspector Matthew Gerould said the people who were arrested were involved in "street level" crack cocaine sales. The raid Wednesday was the work of the city's vice squad and special response unit, and the state police Special Emergency Response Team.

According to police, investigators seized roughly 40 grams of crack in Wednesday's raid. Police say the people arrested Wednesday were selling the drug out of the Bartlett and the surrounding area.

The man arrested on Fourth Street was Michael Carthens, 40, of 10 S. 5th St.

He was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, and arraigned late Wednesday afternoon before

Carthens was sent to in lieu of $50,000 bail. 

Also arrested were:

• Kasandra Rogers, 22, 1007 Butler St., Apt. 2., charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine.
• Marquita Leonard, 28, 1007 Butler St. Apt. 2, charged with delivery of cocaine.
• Enos Cousar, 41, 10 S. 5th St. Room 13, charged with charged with delivery and possession with intent to deliver cocaine.
• Richard Creech, 30, 912 Riverside Drive, Trenton, charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine.

Rogers and Leonard were arraigned before District Judge Elmo Frey in Wilson, and sent to county prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. Cousar and Creech were awaiting arraignment, police said.

The sight of the camouflage state police carrying semi-automatics stunned those at the corner of South Fifth and Northampton streets. 

"This is very much like a movie," said Leslie Reid, a server at the State Cafe and Grill, which is next door to The Bartlett, a rooming house where the police activity took place.

"There are a lot of seedier elements. A lot of really nice people live around here. I'm happy to see it get cleaned up."

Cafe owner Juan Martinez agreed.

"It's a good thing," he said. "This shows the police department doing a good job. This will get crime out of the city."

John Pearce has owned The Bartlett, a rooming house where the police activity took place, for the past four years.

"I was coming back from the post office," Pearce said. "We came by to take a look. Suddenly all this police showed up. They told us to get away, but I had no idea what was going on. No one told me anything. This is just an operation."

Pearce and his wife stood across the street watching police escort people out of the building.

"They look like stormtroopers," Pearce said of the state police dressed in military garb.

Pearce said that none of the suspects were tenants in the rooming house, which at 10 South St., has been in business since 1953. However, police identified two of the suspects as Bartlett residents.

"I never saw anything like this before. This is shocking."

Police gave notice of the search warrant and called for suspects to come out with a bullhorn, some witnesses added.

"They kind of swooped in," said Frank Teats, an employee of the small corner grocery downstairs from the raided hotel. "They just went straight for the hotel."

G & E store owner George Hussein said at first he thought a fight had broken out upstairs, because he heard thumping and banging.

"I had two customers here, and suddenly there's a policeman here with a machine gun saying, 'Stay inside, stay inside!'" he said.

The officer stayed until the suspects were brought into custody, Hussein added.

After the arrests, police continued to search the building. Thumps of investigative activity could be heard overhead as customers discussed the event between purchases in the shop downstairs.

"Well, it's a good thing the cops are doing their jobs," said one.

"Man, you should have seen it. They had everyone here, even the Staties, with machine guns," said another.

-- This story was compiled by Easton Patch editor Tom Coombe, and freelance writers Dino Ciliberti and Christina Georgiou.