Five in Jail Following Ford City Raid
Arrested in Ford City raid: (L-R) Chaunie Bennett of Templeton, Jayvon Craighead of Penn Hills, Hank Kromer of Ford City, Marquis Rosser of Pittsburgh, and Stephanie Swindler of Ford City.
by Jonathan Weaver
Local police agencies arrested five people – including three from Armstrong County – suspected of selling illegal narcotics and possessing stolen firearms April 1.
Ford City, Manor Township and Kittanning Borough Police officers, along with Pennsylvania State Police troopers arrested Hank Kromer and Stephanie Swindler – both from Ford City, Chaunie Bennett of Templeton, Jayvon Craighead of Penn Hills and Marquis Rosser of Pittsburgh in a search warrant at 903 Fifth Ave in Ford City Borough.
Ford City Borough Police Chief Roger Wright said the suspected illegal activity has been “ongoing” for some time in the municipality.
“The aforementioned residence had been known to this department to be one of the largest and most complex dealers of illegal narcotics in our borough,” Chief Wright wrote in a news release issued Monday. “We were able to gather enough information to move the investigation forward.”
While he did not give specific amounts, Chief Wright said narcotics found on-scene included heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana.
All five individuals are charged with either one or two counts of felony receiving stolen property, felony possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, felony corrupt organizations and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Chief Wright praised the assistance from the other police forces.
“They did a very good job –they helped us a lot,” Chief Wright said. “We appreciate their help.”
He added that other people were at the residence, and might also be charged with similar offenses.
Chief Wright added that none of the arrested individuals fought with police April 1.
The five suspected dealers were arraigned in front of District Magisterial Judge James Owen in Kittanning Saturday before being incarcerated in the Armstrong County Jail. They are all being held on $50,000 cash or property.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, April 12 and are thought to be held before District Magisterial Judge Gary DeComo.
Local News | jweaver April 5, 2016
By wonderwhy, April 5, 2016 @ 7:46 AM
Kudos to law enforcement for arresting these dealers. These are the people that need locked up for a long time. The gavel needs to come down hard on them. They are ruining our beloved small towns. These people from Pittsburgh aren’t moving up here for jobs! They are up here dealing and preying on our citizens. Put them on a list and nobody can rent to them. Our tax money used fro Community Action should not be used to pay for them to have a place to live if they have been convicted of dealing. We beed to step up and come down hard on this.
By Just sayin, April 5, 2016 @ 9:31 AM
Orange is the New Black
By walrus, April 5, 2016 @ 2:43 PM
now if the d.a. does his job
By concernedformykids, April 5, 2016 @ 4:10 PM
Great job, now let’s see if the DA and Judges can keep them in jail for more than a week!
By worthingtonman, April 5, 2016 @ 10:49 PM
It’s these junkie women dragging these dealers into town. Give them a place to stay introduce them to clients. As long as you have trash willing to give safe harbor to trash then the problem continues.
By Nivasi, April 6, 2016 @ 12:25 AM
Too bad hard labor isn’t part of jail time .. its now just 3 hots & a cot. These people don’t care if they’re in jail. It’s a day off the streets.
By jd718, April 6, 2016 @ 5:20 AM
No, It’s not junkie women dragging dealers into town. It’s the drug dealers using junkie women to ply their trade. Junkie women do travel to Pittsburgh to get junk. The demand for drugs draw the dealers to this area!
By jd718, April 6, 2016 @ 7:15 AM
Orange is the new Black, and that means what?
By sean spring, April 6, 2016 @ 7:56 AM
Almost 50 years of a ‘war on drugs” and 1 trillion spent, and we have a heroin epidemic. I’m not bashing law enforcement, but how can one say “good job’? To me, the war on drugs is just as insane as the addicts, doing the same things over and over expecting different results. I wish people would realize that we can’t incarcerate ourselves out of drug dealing/addiction. Legalize ALL drugs. That takes the black market away, and THEN we wouldn’t have these dealers coming into our neighborhoods dealing death.
By Just sayin, April 6, 2016 @ 8:54 PM
I agree with Wonderwhy.
By Just sayin, April 6, 2016 @ 8:56 PM
Not so sure if their names are real…Craighead? Swindler?