Officers make latest bust near Prentice Hall

Watch video of the drug bust.

The Portage County Drug Task Force arrested three suspects at about 5 p.m. yesterday in the third campus drug bust in a month.

Scores of students watched as police and K-9 units searched a green Oldsmobile in the parking lot outside Prentice Hall.

1 Oct. 13 An undercover officer arrests Teon L. Stallworth, 22, of Akron. He was charged with selling ecstasy at the Student Center. 2 Nov. 2 After an undercover investigation, police arrest James Anderson, 21, of Streetsboro and Melissa Botts, 20, of Hudson on heroin charges at Hilltop Drive. 3 Yesterday Drug enforcement officers arrested three suspects near Prentice Hall and charged them with complicity to trafficking heroin.

Commander Pat Burns of the Portage County Drug Task Force said Daysha M. Lewis Sr., 20, of Akron was charged with complicity to trafficking and heroin.

John A. Reed, 22, of Akron was charged with complicity to trafficking and heroin.

Michaelas F. King, 30, of Peninsula was charged with trafficking and heroin, possession of criminal tools and possession of OxyContin. Officers took an undisclosed amount of money off him and other substances from the Oldsmobile.

Police originally thought the other substances were crack cocaine, but those substances will be analyzed to be sure.

The suspects told undercover officers to meet them at the university to make the deal, Burns said. Yesterday’s arrest marked the end of a month-long investigation and was unrelated to the Nov. 2 heroin bust on Hilltop Drive.

The Task Force was assisted by the Drug Enforcement Agency of Youngstown throughout the investigation and arrest.

Sgt. Richard O’Neill of the Kent State Police Department said he was driving by Prentice Hall when he noticed several emergency vehicles there.

“I was driving down the road, and I saw them,” O’Neill said. “I figured since something was happening on campus, I should go check it out.”

University police were aware an undercover operation was going on, but O’Neill said they did not have details.

“Our department is not involved in what (the Task Force) does,” O’Neill said. “We are only involved at their request.”

The Portage County Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Portage County Sheriff’s Department, Kent city police, Ravenna police, Aurora police, Streetsboro police, Garrettsville police and the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office.

The Drug Enforcement Agency of Youngstown is the Youngstown branch of the federal organization that investigates and enforces U.S. drug laws.

Contact safety reporter Suzi Starheim at [email protected].