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MACE agents crack down on drugs
AlCato
MACE Commander Al Cato - photo by Courier file photo
The Multi Agency Crack Enforcement Drug Task Force continues its battle to keep drugs and illegal prescriptions out of the hands of children.
Parents are reminded Red Ribbon Week is Oct. 20-28, and encouraged to talk with their children about the dangers of drugs.

Success stories

Sept. 24, 2007
Working with information provided by confidential informants, MACE agents made arrangements to meet with a couple from Screven who would supply an undercover agent with illegally obtained prescriptions. At 2:20 p.m., Kimberly Nivens, 37 and James McReady, 39, pulled into their scheduled meeting location at the Wendy’s parking lot in Hinesville. Agents surrounded the vehicle and confiscated 173 Methadone pills, 119 Hydrocodone pills, and 25 Xanax that were just purchased from a pharmacy in Woodbine. Agents discovered the labels that were peeled off the bottles were still stuck onto the vehicle’s dashboard. The investigation revealed Nivens was a nurse assistant, giving her access to prescription pads. MACE also learned a doctor in Jacksonville was filling the prescriptions.
Nivens and McReady were charged with the sale of schedule II drugs and the use of communication facilities, and they both bonded out of jail after posting $3,000 each. It is believed they returned to their residence in Screven, just south of Jesup.

Sept. 26, 2007
Working on an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen, MACE set up surveillance after being told a drug transaction was about to take place in the 700 block of Wildwood Drive in Hinesville.
Agents observed a suspect park his car halfway in the driveway. When the subject spotted the agents, he immediately jumped out of the car and began to run into the wood line. MACE agents pursued the man and one of the agents observed the suspect threw a bag, of what appeared to be marijuana, onto the ground. Another agent caught the suspect and the bag was recovered. The man was identified as Juan Carlos Negron, 24. He reportedly told authorities he kept his drug stash at his girlfriend’s house and consented to a search of their room at the residence. Negron also told the officers he stays with his parents as well, and said he had some items there. Agents received consent from his parents to search his room. At his girlfriend’s house, MACE discovered several hundred baggies that had cocaine and marijuana residue, as well as partially smoked marijuana cigars, joints and drug paraphernalia. Authorities also found a rolled wad of money held together with rubber bands and individually wrapped bags of Hydrcodone pills.
Another wad of money was found in his bedroom at his parents’ house, along with marijuana and cocaine residue, and paraphernalia.
Negron faces several drug charges and was initially denied bond because he had prior arrests for drug activity. He later posted $22,000 cash/$44,000 property bond. His girlfriend, Meredith Amanda Mitchell, 21, was arrested and charged with possession of a schedule II drug with intent to distribute, a felony, and possession of tools of the crime. She posted bond as well.

Oct. 1, 2007
Working on anonymous tips and information received from Hinesville police, MACE worked a case that involved the possibility of high school students frequenting a residence across the street from Bradwell Institute.
Hinesville police said several incidents were reported at the residence, including one where witness reported seeing two teenagers break into the home through a window.
When police investigated, the homeowner said he was not going to press charges because he gave the kids permission to enter his property.
After some surveillance, MACE secured a search warrant for the residence of Arthur Timothy Harvey, 36, who resided in the 300 block of Fraser Circle - 80-100 feet from the front door of Bradwell Institute.
MACE agents discovered equipment used to grow marijuana hydroponically and drug residue. They also reportedly found a semi-automatic piston with a bullet in the chamber, a full clip in the weapon and another full clip attached in the holster. MACE agents said it appeared the offender had just cultivated a crop of marijuana.
They also found a closet set up as a grow lab, and small piles of marijuana on the kitchen table. Harvey was charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of a firearm within a school safety zone, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, manufacturing marijuana within 1000 feet of public housing, and manufacturing marijuana within 1,000 feet of school. His initial bond was denied.

Oct.1, 2007
While patrolling trouble spots in the area of Walthourville, MACE agents saw a vehicle with driver who was acting peculiar. When they stopped the car, the agents found crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, five small, pre-packaged bags of marijuana and a smoking device. The woman reportedly told officers she was out looking for a job at 11 p.m. Nadine Seay, 31, was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana. MACE is seizing her Ford Explorer. She was scheduled to have her first appearance Oct. 4.

Oct. 4, 2007
MACE agents observed a small group of people, including a person of interest they know as “Dough Boy,” in Hillyard Park in Walthourville.
As they approached, the group began to disperse and the man known as “Dough Boy” ran from the premises before agents could stop him.
With a Liberty County sheriff’s Department K-9 unit on hand, the officers gathered the remaining subjects while an officer walked the dog around the park. The dog kept alerting the officer to an area around the slide, where the group was initially seen together before dispersing. MACE checked the area and found crumbled pieces of marijuana. They also found a freshly rolled marijuana blunt cigar nearby. MACE agents also noticed woodchips under the swings seemed to be piled up and discovered a bag of marijuana underneath them. Brother and sister Forrest and Teishara Williams and Miguel Ross were arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Oct. 4, 2007
Rebecca Flood, who resides in the 400 block of Gassaway Street, faces eight felony charges of prescription fraud and two counts of forgery of a prescription after MACE discovered 402 illegally obtained Darvocets in her public housing residence. MACE was alerted when a physician reported being suspicious about one of his current patients and prescription calls he was receiving from pharmacies.

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HPD Reports
crime scene

From Hinesville Police Department reports. Editor’s note: Due to computer issues at the city, reports have been unavailable in recent weeks. They are back. Our thanks to the HPD clerks who provide them. We’re catching up as quickly as possible.

Burglary, etc: A man called 911 on Feb. 27 because he was watching his White Circle home getting burglarized. The man said his alarm system had an app that showed live video on his phone, and he was “viewing three males inside his residence,” as he talked to 911.
Police responded, caught two of them inside the house and found the third guy “hiding behind a tree,” the report said.
Detectives are investigating.

Public indecency: An officer was sent to Lowes around 4:30 p.m. March 12 in reference to a disturbance involving a man and a woman.
The woman, a Lowe’s employee, said she had just got back from her lunch break when she saw the man “looking around at items on a shelf.”
The woman said she asked him if he needed help finding anything and he held up something, then said “I have found everything I need,” the report said. “(he) then placed his arms around (the employee) to hug her and then kissed (her) neck. (She) then moved away from (him) and told him to have a nice day and attempted to walk away from (the man). (He) then began to follow (her), stating ‘I would lick you up and down’ and ‘you better hide in an office.’ (She) then spoke with manager and called 911.’”
The man told police he thought he recognized the woman “and stated to me that he had previously had a relationship with her approximately two years ago. (He) was unable to recall (her) name while on scene.”
The woman told police “she has never seen, nor spoken to (the man) before today.”
The woman was given a case number and told what to do. The man was allowed to leave.

Indecent exposure: A Berkshire Terrace man reported he went outside his house around 6:40 a.m. and “observed a man who appeared to be intoxicated, peeing on his truck and trailer.”
The complainant said the man “fully exposed his penis while he was peeing. When (complainant) asked him to stop the man told him to ‘shut the (bleep) up.’ (Complainant) advised the man he would call police. (Complainant) advised his young son was standing outside during the incident. He said the man got into a 1996 black Buick and drove away, almost hitting cars that were parked in the driveway.”
The complainant said he did not want to press charges, “he said he wanted to report the incident because the man did not stop peeing when he asked him too.”
The complainant said he’d seen the man before “come and go” from a nearby apartment. The officer met with the resident of that apartment, who said the man was a cousin and did not pee on the complainant’s trailer.

Identity theft: A man went to HPD on March 21 to report that when he went to get a driver’s history for a commercial driver’s license, he found several citations on the history that weren’t his. “(He) stated he noticed someone was issued four citations in Arkansas and one citation in Jacksonville, Florida,” and during the time the Arkansas tickets were written he was in locked up in Georgia.
“(He) advised that he was not incarcerated when the citation in Jacksonville, Florida was issued but he was not in Florida at the time. (He) was unable to leave the state of Georgia due to being on felony probation.”
It gets worse.
“(He) told me that he attempted to file his income taxes for the first time ever and he was rejected due to owing the IRS money, $20,000. (He) stated he spoke to a representative for the IRS and he was informed that taxes were filed in his name in 2014 and the return was $1,3000. (He) advised he did not file taxes in 2013 and he was still incarcerated at the time.”
The man then told the officer he thinks his brother “got the citations and filed income taxes using his information. (He) believed his brother obtained his Social Security number and other demographics when he was incarcerated.”
The man said he talked to his brother, who said he paid all the tickets. “(His) brother also told him on a different occasion that he knew his date of birth and (SSN). (He) advised he told his brother that it was not OK to use his name due to him getting his life together and attempting to drive commercial vehicles.”
The guy said he didn’t have his brother’s address. He chose to fill out an identity theft packet.

Simple battery, theft by taking: An officer was sent around 2 a.m. March 20 to the Baymont Inn regarding a disturbance. There, a woman said she was being “grabbed and pulled” by a man when she told him to leave her motel room. She said they began arguing when he accused her of stealing $100.
The man claimed he met the woman on a dating website and when they “started having sex she informed him that it would cost $100.” He told her he wasn’t going to pay her, “got dressed and realized the five $20s in his pants pocket were missing. He accused (her) of stealing his money.”
The officer asked the woman if she stole the man’s money and she replied, “No, I work hard for my money.”
Both were given a case number and told how to get a warrant.

Robbery: A woman called HPD March 15 to report she was home when her estranged husband came to her apartment “and asked her to come outside to talk to him,” a report said.
“She stated that she stepped outside thinking that he was going to be civil, though she recently filed for divorce from him. As she stepped outside, he grabbed her necklace off her neck and then ran down the stairwell and out to the parking lot.”
The woman said he stood by his vehicle a minute, then drove off as police arrived. Officers checked the area but had no luck finding the man.

Burglary: Police were sent to a Malibu Drive address on March 13 regarding missing firearms and ransacked rooms. The homeowners were at work and got home to find handguns and rifles missing, as well as video games.
It appeared the home may have been broken into through the attic. Police found footprints and other evidence, and the case is under investigation.

Recovered stolen trailer: A U-Haul employee was inventorying equipment on March 14 when she discovered a trailer that had been reported stolen in Florida on Dec. 26. “She stated someone had backed the trailer into a parking stall along with the other trailers sometime during the night.”

Theft: In February, the maintenance man at Cypress Bend Mobile Home Park reported that “22 air conditioning unit disconnect boxes were stolen from various lots… He stated he began receiving calls from people that their air conditioning units were not working.”
The boxes contain small pieces of copper. He didn’t know who swiped them, but valued the total at about $341.

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