NEWPORT-Two men are in custody, and another being sought, as a result of a Wednesday evening raid on an alleged crack house in Newport, according to information released Friday by Fourth Judicial District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn.
The house, located at the corner of White Oak Avenue and Mineral Street, was targeted by the Fourth Judicial Drug Task Force because of the widespread distribution of cocaine from there over the past several months.
Arrested were Lyle Deprise Harvey, 28, of 371 Laburnum Avenue in Richmond, Va., and Darryl Depriest Ingram, 26, of 144-B Tusculum Road in Antioch. Ingram has prior felony convictions in Davidson County on cocaine and weapons charges.
Both men are charged with the sale and distribution of crack cocaine. The search continues for a third suspect who evaded arrest by jumping through a double-pane glass window as officers entered the house.
The search resulted in the seizure of approximately 100 grams of cocaine base, various prescription-type medications, scales and other drug paraphernalia, along with a large amount of cash and two firearms. One of the weapons, a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson automatic pistol, had been recently reported stolen in Cocke County.
Agents of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, officers of the Newport Police Departments and Cocke County Sheriff's Office, and investigators from the District Attorney General's Office assisted the DTF during the search.
The investigation into the drug distribution network operating from the house is continuing, and according to Task Force Director Mack Smith, more arrests are imminent.
Dunn commended the fine work of all the agencies involved. "The Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force has been very diligent in ferreting out the sellers, traffickers, and illegal drugs in Newport and all of my district," stated Dunn.