GALION — A man was arrested and is now facing drug charges following the raid of a Galion residence on Wednesday morning.
Chief Marc Rodriguez of the Galion Police Department said officers from his department and other county law enforcement agents executed a narcotics search warrant at a residence located at 829 Harding Way East. Authorities arrested Daris Thompson, age 55, Galion, during the raid. Officers seized suspected methamphetamines, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and an undisclosed amount of cash (less than $100).
The chief said the following charges have been recommended against Thompson: drug trafficking, possession of drugs, and permitting drug abuse. The case has been referred to the Crawford County Prosecutor’s Office for review, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said that location has been under police scrutiny for quite a while due to a large number of reports from local residents about alleged drug activity there.
“It stemmed from a several months long investigation that was based on citizen complaints of suspected drug activity,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve received numerous complaints from business owners and citizens and anonymous callers, so we initiated a drug investigation several months back.”
In addition to the Galion Police Department and the Galion Police Special Investigation Unit, deputies from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and agents from the Crawford County Special Response Team joined in the raid on Wednesday morning. The Special Response Team includes officers from the Bucyrus, Crestline, Galion, and New Washington police departments, and members of the Galion and Bucyrus fire departments.
This is the second drug bust in as many weeks in the City of Galion. Authorities arrested two people following the raid of a residence at 476 Fifth Avenue on Wednesday, July 14. According to Crawford County Sheriff Scott Kent, Shawn Kouns, age 49, and Teresa Howard, age 47, were the targets of the 3-month long investigation in that case. Officers seized methamphetamines, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and an undisclosed amount of cash during last week’s raid.
Rodriguez said he’s committed to stepping up efforts to battle the drug trade in Galion.
“That’s a goal of mine — zero tolerance for drugs,” Rodriguez said. “Unfortunately, with these types of cases, it takes quite a while to investigate them. It’s not been an easy task since we’ve down officers, but we’ve got three new officers who will start next week.”
Rodriguez said he appreciated the public’s assistance in providing tips and information that eventually resulted in the recent arrests.
“They know their neighborhoods better than the patrol officers do at times,” he said. “They know who should be there and who shouldn’t be there and what vehicles should be in the neighborhood. I would say when something doesn’t seem right, when you see something that looks out of the ordinary, contact the police department and report that.
“I’m making it a priority for our officers to be out there more, to be more approachable for the citizens,” he added. “If they see officers out and about, please talk to them and pass that information on. We’re here to help improve quality of life and get these things to stop.”
Residents can contact the Galion Police Department at 419-468-9111 (non-emergency line) or 419-468-5255 (business line).
