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Captain Steve Johnson talks to KMOV and describes the recent drug arrests at the St. Clair County Court House. Bailiff Josh Pea has been very proactive and has made Court House security a high priority.
Visitors to the first floor at the St. Clair County Building be warned: When the bailiff tells you to empty your pockets, you probably shouldn't have illegal substances stuffed in them.
On Monday, bailiff Josh Pea arrested a courthouse visitor and charged him with carrying illegal drugs. It was the third time in less than a week he did this.
About 9 a.m. Monday, a man went through the metal detector on the first floor of the courthouse and set it off, after Pea told him to empty all of his pockets, said Capt. Steve Johnson, lead detective of the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department.
Pea patted down Eric Brooks, 21, of 2716 McCasland Ave., East St. Louis, and felt an object in the man's left inside jacket pocket. When Pea told Brooks to remove the object, Brooks complied and moved it from the inside pocket to the right outside pocket of the same jacket. Pea saw Brooks' slight of hand, told Brooks to face him and Pea removed the object.
The object was a plastic bag containing a green, leafy substance believed to be pot. After Pea arrested and handcuffed Brooks, the arrested man declared "I just like my weed," before he was taken to the St. Clair County Jail, according to the police report.
Brooks was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Norvell Cureton, 35, of 1401 St. Louis Ave., East St. Louis, passed through the metal detector at Pea's post, and it went off.
After being instructed to empty his pockets, police said Cureton pulled a small baggie containing a white, powdered substance that police believe was cocaine from his pocket and immediately stuffed it into his mouth. When he attempted to escape, Pea grabbed him and both men fell to the floor and the baggie fell out of Cureton's mouth, according to a police report. Cureton saw the baggie, grabbed it, stuffed it back into his mouth and swallowed it.
Bailiff Aaron Johnson arrived and helped Pea handcuff Cureton.
Cureton refused to be taken to the hospital and was instead taken to the St. Clair County Jail, where he was charged with two counts of obstructing a peace officer for refusing to permit a search and resisting arrest.
At 9:35 a.m. Thursday, Pea searched a man who failed to completely empty out his pockets before he went through the metal detector. The objects he forgot to remove set off the detector and when Pea patted down Quincy Jackson, 26, of 900 Mayfair Drive, Belleville, he felt a small object in the small right front pocket of Jackson's pants.
When the object was removed from Jackson's pants, Pea noticed it filled with a green, leafy substance believed to be marijuana. Jackson was arrested, handcuffed and given a ride to the St. Clair County Jail, where he was booked and charged with misdemeanor amount of possession of marijuana.
Brooks, Cureton and Jackson have posted bond and were released from the jail.
Contact reporter Jennifer A. Bowen at jbowen@bnd.com or 239-2667.
First the purse thief lost the purse back to the owner, then the thief lost the foot race with the sheriff's deputy, police said.
The worst was yet to come.
St. Clair County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Davis was on duty Friday for the sheriff's transit patrol at the Emerson Park Metro Station, 929 N. 15th St. in East St. Louis, when a woman got off the MetroLink train around 7:20 a.m. and said another passenger had just tried to take her purse while she was reading a book.
The woman's purse was on her lap when the purse snatcher walked by and grabbed it, said St. Clair County Sheriff's Chief Investigator Capt. Steve Johnson. The victim jumped up, followed the purse snatcher as the train pulled into the Emerson Park Metro Station and grabbed her purse back.
When she saw Davis at the station she reported the incident, described the purse snatcher and indicated to Davis the woman was running north towards the Central City Apartments.
Davis spotted a woman matching the victim's description -- a black woman in a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants -- and ran after her. He caught up to her and ordered her to stop and lie on the ground. She complied and Davis handcuffed her and walked her a couple of blocks back to the transit station where she was secured in the security office so he could interview witnesses and the victim, according to the police report.
The suspect identified herself as Sherry Harris, 20, of 1713 McCasland Ave. in East St. Louis. A background check discovered that under that name the woman had an active St. Clair County warrant for a Metro fare violation. Harris was arrested and taken back to the St. Clair County Jail where the case was taken over by St. Clair County Sheriff's Investigator Desmond Williams.
When Harris' fingerprints were run through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System by Williams, he learned the woman's real name was Sherry Lawson, 20, of the same address she previously gave Davis.
Lawson had a felony parole violation warrant on file from the Illinois Department of Corrections in addition to the St. Clair County warrant under the false name. She was convicted of burglary in 2006 in Macon County and was released from prison and placed on parole on April 28.
On Monday Lawson was charged by the St. Clair County State's Attorney's office with criminal felony of theft from a person and criminal felony obstructing justice for giving a false name to avoid arrest.
She remains in the St. Clair County Jail in lieu of a $40,000 bail.
Contact reporter Jennifer A. Bowen at jbowen@bnd.com or 239-2667.
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Deputy Jason Robertson K9-43
Canine Marley
