Wayne, Washtenaw Deputies Stage Drug Raid In City

Washtenaw and Wayne County sheriff's deputies last night ended a five-hour, cat-and-mouse surveillance, which covered more than 40 miles, with a raid on an Ann Arbor house where officers say quantities of drugs were seized. Fifteen persons were taken into custody. Sheriff Douglas J. Harvey said five adults and a juvenile are being held on criminal charges; nine persons were released after questioning. Participating in the surveillance and raid were officers from Harvey's department and members of the Metropolitan Squad from Wayne County Sheriff's Department. Ann Arbor police were not notified of the raid. Those arrested include William H. Hawk, 18, charged with sale and possession of marijuana; and Eric Von Rairich, 20, Allen D. Sadler, 18,. Lee A. Kay, 25 and Colleen Donovan, 18, all charged with possession of marijuana. The raid was staged at 622 N. Main St, the address Hawk gave as his home. Von Rairich and Sadler are from Alien Park; Kay is a Livonia resident and Miss Donovan is from Detroit. Sheriff Harvey said the raid was the culmination of a month long investigation of narcotics traffic which has been moving from Wayne County into Ann Arbor. "A lot of work and a lot of sweat went into this operation. And it went off well," the sheriff said. Sheriff s Detective Lt. Chester A. Wilson, who led one segment of the group of 15 police raiders, was injured when he was kicked in the groin by one of the persons arrested, officers said. He declined immediate medical attention but was to be treated at a doctor's office later today. The chain of circumstances which were climaxed by the raid began about 3 p.m. yesterday in Wayne County when detectives on the Detroit Metropolitan Squad received a report that a narcotics shipment was to be transported into Washtenaw County. Harvey sent a squad of his men to meet with Wayne County officers and a "floating stake-out" was set up. In the next five hours officers from the two sheriff's departments trailed a vehicle carrying several suspects into Washtenaw County's Augusta Township and then over a series of back roads north to Superior and Salem Townships. Eventually, the trail led into Anti Arbor and finally to 622 N. Main St. When the suspects entered the house, detectives from the two departments surrounded the building. A squad of officers then entered the house and made the arrests. Sheriff Harvey said the house was a "commune" where a number of young people live. He said they range m age from 15 to the late 20's. The sheriff said the exact value of the substances seized is not immediately known. He said one large plastic bag contained marijuana valued in excess of $600. Other confiscated plastic bags contained pills, some of which have been identified as LSD, and other containers had hashish in them, Harvey said. The sheriff said as officers were loading the suspects into vans at the scene a crowd of 20 to 25 persons gathered and began moving in toward the prisoners. One member of the crowd raised a bottle as if to throw it but fled without throwing when a plainclothes officer leveled a gun at him. The crowd dispersed without further incident. The sheriff said the Ann Arbor Police Department was notified of the raid after the arrests were made. "I trust no one is going to jump to the conclusion that we were doing something behind the back of city police," Harvey said. "As a professional courtesy we always work with the resident police agency. In this case there was no time to do so. It was a matter of hitting this house immediately or not at all. So we hit it." The sheriff said his department will conform to state law on all narcotics cases. "City ordinances can be passed, repealed or hung on the wall," Harvey said. "They don't mean a thing to us. Mayor (Robert J.) Harris and his council might as well know it: my department will continue to operate throughout Washtenaw County and that includes Ann Arbor. When we do make narcotic raids here and arrests are made they will be made under the existing state law. And I can assure him, raids will be made here." The sheriff's remarks were in reference to an ordinance now up for second reading action by Ann Arbor City Council which would make possession of marijuana a misdemeanor rather than a felony as it presently is under state law. (Picture on Page 13)