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Drug task force targets Nelson Ledges Quarry Park

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Colin McEwen
June 16, 2009

 

 

By Colin McEwen

Record-Courier staff writer

Eight people were arraigned Monday in Portage County Municipal Court on charges of possessing and trafficking drugs at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park during the weekend.

On Friday evening, undercover officers from the Portage County Drug Task Force entered the park with $800 in cash and were approached by several people soliciting drugs. In less than an hour, five people were arrested, according to Portage County Sheriff David Doak.

Cedric Smith, 19, and Bradley Szuber, 20, both of Lima, were arrested and each charged with trafficking in marijuana, a fifth-degree felony. Their bonds were set at 10 percent of $25,000.

Perry Blankenship, 47, of Paw Paw, Mich., was charged with trafficking in psilocybin mushrooms, a fifth-degree felony, after he was discovered with a large amount of the hallucinogen. His bond also was set at 10 percent of $25,000.

Nicholas Melnik, 28, of Lowelville and Case Walters, 20, of Cleveland also were charged with trafficking in psilocybin mushrooms, a fifth-degree felony. Bond for each was set at 10 percent of $15,000.

On Saturday, the sheriff’s office received a report from the park’s security of further drug activity.

When two deputies responded, they arrested three more people.

Alex Morrow, 25, of Greensburg, Ind., was arrested and charged with trafficking drugs, a second-degree felony. His bond was set at 10 percent of $25,000.

 Thomas McCusker, 21, of 3689 Beck Road, Mantua, was charged with fifth-degree felony trafficking in cocaine. His bond was set at 10 percent of $75,000.

 Frances Blair, 21, of Cleveland, was charged with second-degree felony possession of psilocybin mushrooms. Her bond was also set at 10 percent of $75,000.

Saturday’s bust netted $9,000, Doak said.

Doak said he expects more charges to be filed.

Just near the evidence lockers at the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Doak held up evidence bags from the weekend’s arrests highlighting the dozens of pills and narcotics inside.

“What really concerns us is that many people coming in and out of (the park) impaired,” he said. “We’re going to keep stepping on it. The task force guys said it was like shooting fish in a barrel.”

Doak said the enforcement at the park was the result of drug-related activity in and around the quarry. Throughout the years, authorities have made numerous drug-related arrests at the park, most recently in April when eight people were arrested in three days.

The weekend music festival was the Floyd/Zeppelin/Classic Fest, but Doak isn’t sure the people attending are there only for the music.

“The drugs are out of control up there,” Doak said. “It’s like a flea market, and I’m not going to ignore it.”

 

 




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68.
    Posted by NLQPLOVER June 23, 2009
Hell Yeah SOH I Love You Dude NLQP All The Way Hit Me Up There And You Know Pigs Are Looking At This Page Right Now **** THE POLICE'S

DARE To Tell The Truth About Hemp

Stoners Live And Stoners Die But In The End We All Get High. So If You Don't Succeed, **** This **** And Smoke Some Weed.

67.
    Posted by SOH June 22, 2009
i_zheet,

It could be the difference between the main and small stage. The main stage speakers point south and the small stage speakers face west. I'll talk to Crazylegs and see. I'll be out there this weekend but there are no shows until Gratefulfest July 4th weekend so I'll try messaging him on his MySpace. He's probably watching this page anyway so he may just answer you here. Either way, I'll get back to you on that.

Everybody else, lets remember to not stoop to narcolicious's level. We know we're not doing anything wrong at the park and we don't need to fuel his fire. Haters burn in the end anyway.

66.
    Posted by Doug33 June 22, 2009
You folks are still here?!

YAWN!

65.
    Posted by i_zheet June 22, 2009
SOH,

Yes, a bit. I'll never understand though, how the noise goes from being minor and in the background to very loud and clear. It can be a bit like listening to a fire siren, quiet when it is pointing away and super loud when aimed at you.

You guys don't have rotating speaker towers do you?
:-)

64.
    Posted by ozzy84_inactive June 22, 2009
your so funny narco, lol, yea your a real man, you hide behind your computer and think your king shi*, your nothing

63.
    Posted by SOH June 22, 2009
I didn't think it was you i_zheet. I like you. Has it gotten any quieter in your neck of the woods yet?

62.
    Posted by ivabiggen June 22, 2009
Real men don't call people names.A real man is'nt so negative.

61.
    Posted by narcolicious June 21, 2009
No sir your not narco, Im more of a man than all of you hippie punks will ever be!!

60.
    Posted by i_zheet June 21, 2009
Familyof4:

I said my peace in the last article, I'm done commenting. I am not narcolicious.

Have a good evening.

59.
    Posted by jamesmarkov June 21, 2009
I got a laugh out of all the "hippie" jokes.
I had no idea there were still "hippie haters" out there...in fact I thought hippies were extinct as a cultural icon.
The jokes are classic humor-instead of the word "hippie" insert any other persecuted group such as a American Indian, Mexican Immigrant, White rural person, or somebody out of society's mainstream ideal.
I will say this that if you are pushing 40 years old and still doing mushrooms, coke, and weed you are rolling the dice with your health and mental sanity.
People who still party hard up at Nelson Ledges ought to realize the cops are eyeballing that whole area and will bust any infraction.

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