Early start finds suspects sleeping

It was a quiet, cool, clear summer morning. Dew-soaked lawns glistened in the sun as it broke above the trees.

At a residence in the 1000 block of Ninth Street, all was quiet inside.

Outside, there was activity in the yard. Hummingbirds were busily siphoning nectar from a red and clear plastic feeder hanging from a soffit. A rabbit hopped across the yard, barely bothered by the four law-enforcement officers and another who took positions at the front door, side and rear of the home.

Their actions were synchronized, accomplished without a word.
When all exits were watched and accounted for, then came the command that breached the the morning calm.

“Phelps County Sheriff’s Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol. Open the door!”

Seldom does the door open immediately, and it didn’t this time.
On this morning, it took another beckon before those inside yielded.

Sheriff’s Deputy Glen Suschanke and Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Neil Poynter entered the home.

Once inside, the officers disappeared.

Outside, watching the exits were Rolla Police Department’s Lt. Jason Smith and patrolwoman Chrissy Smith, and Rolla Mayor William S. Jenks, III.

After a moment, the lieutenant and patrolwoman left their staked-out positions and proceeded through the front door.

Mayor Jenks and an observer for the Rolla Daily News stayed outside.

They make up Team Five, one of five all over Rolla and Phelps County rousting alleged drug sellers from their slumber, a result of an 18-month multi-agency investigation.

It was a scene that played out many times Monday by as many as 55 law-enforcement officers representing five agencies — the RPD, the Sheriff’s Department, the Highway Patrol, the South-Central Drug Task Force and officers from the U.S. Forest Service.

At this particular home, the officers spent more time inside than usual.

Seventeen minutes.

The neighbor from directly across the street, at the home with the expertly trimmed lawn, opens her car door, gets in and backs down the driveway.

At first, she’s oblivious to the goings on across the street.

As she backs her car onto the street, she notices people standing in the roadway. Curious, she pauses as she puts her car in drive.

At this point, because law-enforcement vehicles are parked three houses away, she has no clue as to the goings on at her neighbors’ home directly across from her driveway.

She smiles — even waves — and proceeds down the street.
As she drives another 125 feet farther, her tail lights brighten, as she slows, taking notice of the unmarked Rolla Police Department cruiser, the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department cruiser and Missouri State Highway Patrol Tahoe.

She can only imagine what was going on across the street from her home.

Meanwhile, inside the home, police are doing their jobs.
Nothing can be heard at the street from inside the home.

In the basement, they find a cache of drugs and paraphernalia, hence the long stay.

According to information obtained during controlled buys, there are two drug suspects in this home.

Suddenly, the front door opens and Team Five members escort two seemingly sleepy suspects in handcuffs across the dew-laden lawn to the police cruisers.

“We got two here,” Lt. Smith said.

However, it was only one of the two they sought. The other suspect in handcuffs was sleeping on the couch in the basement.
He has no previous record. On the table were drugs and drug paraphernalia, just feet away from the sleeping suspect.

“(If) The drugs are that close, I think we can make a case for possession,” Smith said. “He can say they were not his, but that’d be pretty tough.”

Patrolwoman Smith trails the officers leading the suspects. She’s carrying a box containing drug paraphernalia and a glass-blown bong, a water pipe for smoking marijuana.

The officers just get to the car, when a woman at the residence begins screaming to a man walking up to the house to get away.

The officers turn, notice from the photograph in their arrest packet, it’s the known suspect they did not get in the home.
Startled, the man freezes.

Officers rush toward him. The suspect, who had spent the night out and was walking home, puts up no resistance.

“This is the other suspect,” Lt. Smith said. “He lives here. Apparently, he spent the night out and was just coming home. It’s great to get him.”

Team Five had a suspect list that included nine. They were able to secure seven of the 32 apprehended.

“Getting these people off the street is important for all of Rolla and the county,” Jenks added.