Police find $800 of suspected drugs

A Fremont man was arrested on a felony drug charge after crack cocaine and suspected heroin were found in his vehicle during a traffic stop Thursday afternoon.

Devon K. Starks, 23, was arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, and may face additional charges of trafficking in heroin, trafficking in crack cocaine and possession of criminals tools, according to a release from Seneca County Drug Task Force METRICH Enforcement Unit.

Chuck Boyer, unit coordinator of METRICH, said a Tiffin police officer had stopped Starks' vehicle around 4 p.m. near Coe and Schonhardt streets, and with the help of Tiffin Police Department's canine discovered crack cocaine, suspected heroin, criminal tools and money inside the vehicle. Boyer said a field test was performed on the crack cocaine and the suspected heroin will be sent to a lab to be tested.

Boyer estimated about $200 worth of crack cocaine and $600 worth of suspected heroin were confiscated.

He said earlier Thursday, METRICH received information about suspected drug activity in the area of Coe and Schonhardt streets, and passed the information on to the Tiffin Police Department.

Tiffin police officer Justin Nowak then went to the area and stopped Starks' vehicle, Boyer said. "That was instrumental," Boyer said of Tiffin Police Department's quick response.

"I am pleased to see the outcome of today's arrest. Arrests like today allow our officers to send a strong message to the folks who come into our area to poison our community that it simply will not be tolerated in this city," Tiffin Police Chief Fred Stevens said in the release.

Originally published in the Advertiser Tribune on March 27, 2015