MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — With cooperation of a local landlord, another arrest has been made thanks to the Martinsburg Police Department’s Drug House Ordinance.
Martinsburg Police Chief Maury Richards announced Thursday he appeared in municipal court alongside Assistant City prosecutor Nicola Smith in regard to an order of abatement. Two apartments were shut down at the Franklin Manor Apartment complex along W. Burke Street.
The case started with an ongoing investigation by the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force into illegal drug-distribution. Officers executed a search warrant on November 13, 2018 on apartments 45 and 46.
28 grams of heroin and 57 grams of cocaine. Levar Crawford, 41, was taken into custody. Crawford was already on probation from a June 2018 conviction for possession with intent to deliver cocaine. That probation has since been revoked.
Chief Richards expressed appreciation to the property manager for his cooperation.
“As soon as I notified Steve Nehrt about the federal search warrant, he was on top of the problem. Steve acted immediately to quickly remove the problem tenants and assess any other potential issues. As a result, there have been zero calls for police service to this location since November 13th,” Richards stated.
To date, the Martinsburg Drug House Ordinance has shut down 41 drug houses. Repeat calls for service at drug house locations have decreased by 90%.
“Under the provisions of the Drug House Ordinance, property owners are subject to fines if they fail to take appropriate action to abate the problem after 30 days of notification. The Order of Abatement announced today contains compliance stipulations including: evicting the problem tenants, other actions to prevent the recurrence of illegal drug activity, and mandating criminal background checks on future tenants to insure they are “free from convictions for prostitution; illegal gambling; illegal possession, storage, or delivery of or trafficking in controlled substances, or other illegal drug activity.”
– Martinsburg PD
Other cities in West Virginia with similar ordinances are Huntington, Parkersburg, Clarksburg and Fairmont.