Bloods and Drugs and Guns vs. Cops and Guns-- Guess who wins--
Suspect in drug ring arrested
Capture of wanted man leads to pistol, marijuana, $2,000
BY DANIEL NASAW ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Federal drug agents have arrested Broderick Chunn, the third man suspected of running a Little Rock drug ring.
Chunn, who’s been wanted since early March, was arrested by agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration about 1 p.m. Friday at a Little Rock apartment, according to a police official.
After he was taken without incident, agents seized a.44-caliber pistol, a quarter-pound of marijuana and about $2,000 cash, a police official familiar with the case said.
"He didn’t think he’d get caught," the official said.
This arrest comes after a two-year investigation into the activities of Chunn, 23, and his suspected associates Keon Neeley, 28, and Robert Brevard III, 30. The men stand accused in U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Arkansas of knowingly possessing cocaine and crack cocaine with intent to distribute.
Police suspect that Neeley and Brevard ran drug operations for two violent Little Rock street gangs, the West Side Pirus and the Oak Street Posse, respectively.
"They’re some bad dudes," said an undercover Little Rock police official. "They’ll hurt anyone else that’s going to mess up their operation."
Court records show that Little Rock narcotics detectives and DEA agents were able to infiltrate Neeley, Brevard and Chunn’s outfit, buying drugs, watching them, even listening on a phone call as Chunn and Neeley reportedly plotted to kill a federal agent they had discovered watching their operations.
The most recent phase of the investigation began in June with Neeley’s arrest. Soon after, a Little Rock narcotics detective was able to gain Chunn’s trust, buying a total of 4 ounces of crack cocaine and 10 Ecstasy pills over 1 2 /2 months. The detective paid Chunn a total of $3,500 for the drugs, court records state.
On the afternoon of Dec. 18, detectives found Chunn outside a Motel 6 off West Markham in Little Rock and followed him as he drove off in a green Cadillac.
Chunn fled when police tried to pull him over. After a 15-minute chase, Chunn jumped from the still-moving Cadillac and ran. Police found him about five minutes later behind 1600 S. Elm St. They reportedly found crack cocaine in the Cadillac and about $6,400 in his coat pocket.
Later, according to a court document, Chunn said that he had been selling about 9 ounces of cocaine a week. He said he was also selling Ecstasy and marijuana, and that he had at one point paid $9,450 for about a pound of cocaine.
In March 2003, Neeley pleaded guilty to felony drug and weapons charges, and was sentenced to three years in prison. After being paroled in March 2004, Neeley, who is married, had been living with his grandparents while caring for his four children, according to court records.
On June 6, a Little Rock narcotics detective learned that Neeley, also known as "Kilo," was selling cocaine from a purple Oldsmobile.
Narcotics detectives located him that night at an E-Z Mart at 16th Street and University Avenue, and had patrol officers pull him over.
In the Oldsmobile, the patrolmen found a plastic bag with about 3 ounces of cocaine, according to court documents.
Police and DEA agents arrested Brevard on March 1 after he wrecked his Cadillac Escalade while fleeing from them on Interstate 630. In the vehicle, police found about 15 ounces of cocaine, 11 ounces of crack cocaine, 7 ounces of marijuana and about $6,400 cash, court documents state.
According to court records, at one point a federal agent overheard Neeley and Chunn talking on the telephone about obtaining guns and "lightingup" a federal agent who’d been watching them.
In a March 30 court filing arguing that Neeley should be released from the Pulaski County jail during his trial, defense attorneys Mark Leverett and David I. Hammond wrote that the two men weren’t concerned by the agent, and thus had no intention of harming him. U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry L. Jones Jr. disagreed and ordered Neeley detained, writing "it is difficult to characterize the exchange as anything but a discussion of harming a law enforcement officer performing surveillance."
A Little Rock police official said the investigation into Chunn, Brevard and Neeley’s activities will continue, targeting people both above and below them in the drug supply chain.
"This is not the end of the investigation," the official said. "This is the tip of the iceberg."
This story was published Saturday, April 09, 2005
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Copyright © 2005, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Capture of wanted man leads to pistol, marijuana, $2,000
BY DANIEL NASAW ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Federal drug agents have arrested Broderick Chunn, the third man suspected of running a Little Rock drug ring.
Chunn, who’s been wanted since early March, was arrested by agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration about 1 p.m. Friday at a Little Rock apartment, according to a police official.
After he was taken without incident, agents seized a.44-caliber pistol, a quarter-pound of marijuana and about $2,000 cash, a police official familiar with the case said.
"He didn’t think he’d get caught," the official said.
This arrest comes after a two-year investigation into the activities of Chunn, 23, and his suspected associates Keon Neeley, 28, and Robert Brevard III, 30. The men stand accused in U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Arkansas of knowingly possessing cocaine and crack cocaine with intent to distribute.
Police suspect that Neeley and Brevard ran drug operations for two violent Little Rock street gangs, the West Side Pirus and the Oak Street Posse, respectively.
"They’re some bad dudes," said an undercover Little Rock police official. "They’ll hurt anyone else that’s going to mess up their operation."
Court records show that Little Rock narcotics detectives and DEA agents were able to infiltrate Neeley, Brevard and Chunn’s outfit, buying drugs, watching them, even listening on a phone call as Chunn and Neeley reportedly plotted to kill a federal agent they had discovered watching their operations.
The most recent phase of the investigation began in June with Neeley’s arrest. Soon after, a Little Rock narcotics detective was able to gain Chunn’s trust, buying a total of 4 ounces of crack cocaine and 10 Ecstasy pills over 1 2 /2 months. The detective paid Chunn a total of $3,500 for the drugs, court records state.
On the afternoon of Dec. 18, detectives found Chunn outside a Motel 6 off West Markham in Little Rock and followed him as he drove off in a green Cadillac.
Chunn fled when police tried to pull him over. After a 15-minute chase, Chunn jumped from the still-moving Cadillac and ran. Police found him about five minutes later behind 1600 S. Elm St. They reportedly found crack cocaine in the Cadillac and about $6,400 in his coat pocket.
Later, according to a court document, Chunn said that he had been selling about 9 ounces of cocaine a week. He said he was also selling Ecstasy and marijuana, and that he had at one point paid $9,450 for about a pound of cocaine.
In March 2003, Neeley pleaded guilty to felony drug and weapons charges, and was sentenced to three years in prison. After being paroled in March 2004, Neeley, who is married, had been living with his grandparents while caring for his four children, according to court records.
On June 6, a Little Rock narcotics detective learned that Neeley, also known as "Kilo," was selling cocaine from a purple Oldsmobile.
Narcotics detectives located him that night at an E-Z Mart at 16th Street and University Avenue, and had patrol officers pull him over.
In the Oldsmobile, the patrolmen found a plastic bag with about 3 ounces of cocaine, according to court documents.
Police and DEA agents arrested Brevard on March 1 after he wrecked his Cadillac Escalade while fleeing from them on Interstate 630. In the vehicle, police found about 15 ounces of cocaine, 11 ounces of crack cocaine, 7 ounces of marijuana and about $6,400 cash, court documents state.
According to court records, at one point a federal agent overheard Neeley and Chunn talking on the telephone about obtaining guns and "lightingup" a federal agent who’d been watching them.
In a March 30 court filing arguing that Neeley should be released from the Pulaski County jail during his trial, defense attorneys Mark Leverett and David I. Hammond wrote that the two men weren’t concerned by the agent, and thus had no intention of harming him. U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry L. Jones Jr. disagreed and ordered Neeley detained, writing "it is difficult to characterize the exchange as anything but a discussion of harming a law enforcement officer performing surveillance."
A Little Rock police official said the investigation into Chunn, Brevard and Neeley’s activities will continue, targeting people both above and below them in the drug supply chain.
"This is not the end of the investigation," the official said. "This is the tip of the iceberg."
This story was published Saturday, April 09, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2005, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
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