Police say Ohio man dealing drugs out of Butler home

For the second time this month, an Ohio man was arrested along with Butler residents for selling crack out of their home.

Butler city police executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at an apartment on the 300 block of West New Castle Road. Their search ended with the arrests of three people.

Those arrested included the apartment’s residents Donald W. Myers, 35, and Bobbie Jo Noble, 35, as well as Brandon J. Wallace, 26, of Dublin, Ohio.

Following their arraignment by District Judge William Fullerton, all three were placed in Butler County Prison for bond amounts of $25,000 for Myers, $5,000 for Noble and $50,000 for Wallace.

“Myers advised that ‘Base’ was paying him in crack cocaine for the use of the apartment in order to sell narcotics, and that ‘Base’ often used runners to move his product so as to avoid personal liability,” said the investigating officer in the affidavit referring to Wallace.

While the Butler County Drug Task Force was not involved in Wednesday’s arrest, it worked a similar investigation. Stemming from a March 11 bust at a city apartment, detectives filed charges against Jonathan M. Perez, 19, of Youngstown, Ohio, who they said was dealing drugs out of the home of his codefendant Mark A. Sowa, 62, of Butler.

Butler County Detective John Johnson said they do see drug dealers from Ohio, particularly Youngstown, who will use a local apartment to sell drugs. He said these dealers typically operate in groups.

“It’s common in spurts,” Johnson said. “It’s not an everyday thing.”

According to charging documents for Wednesday’s bust, police entered the apartment and found multiple people inside.

“Prior to entry, our police presence was loudly announced several time,” said the investigating officer in the affidavit. “With no response, entry was forced through the front door of the residence, which was barricaded by furniture.”

Butler Township officers saw Wallace trying to leave the rear-basement door of the apartment, but when he saw officers, he went back inside, before being detained by city police.

Police conducted a recorded interview with Myers. He told officers Wallace, who he knew as “Base,” was selling drugs out of the house, which he shares with Noble.

Police searched Wallace and found drugs in two different knotted plastic bags. Both drugs field tested positive. One bag held 6.07 grams of crack cocaine and the other held an unspecified amount of MDMA, also known as ecstasy. Police said they also found Wallace with $454 in cash.

Police said inside the bag containing crack cocaine there were individual “corner” bags. Dealers of crack cocaine will often cut off the corner of a sandwich bag, put the drug inside and then melt the seam.

“The packaging of the crack cocaine in individual baggie corners is, in my training and experience, consistent with the packaging of narcotics for the purpose of sale,” said the investigating officer.

Also found household substances that police said are used for creating crack cocaine from its original powder version, as well as two scales.

“Myers and Noble were both aware that Wallace was trafficking in narcotics from this residence, where Noble and Myers reside with Noble’s 10-year-old daughter,” police said.

All three are scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 11 before Fullerton.