FORT PIERCE \u2013 On Day 5 of Operation Summer Heat, a collaborative crime suppression initiative in St. Lucie County, focused on reducing violent crime, targeting gang activity, removing illegal firearms, and combating narcotics activity, nine adults and one juvenile were arrested, according to a St. Lucie County Sheriff\u2019s Office Facebook posting.<\/p>\n
The St. Lucie County Sheriff\u2019s Office and Fort Pierce Police Department, in partnership with the FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Homeland Security Investigations, made the arrests through traffic enforcement efforts and warrant checks throughout targeted areas of St. Lucie County, according to the Facebook posting.<\/p>\n
Arrested were:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Kevin Walker, 53, possession of cocaine, marijuana under 20 grams, and resisting without violence;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Tonya Ferbert, 36, possession of cocaine and marijuana under 20 grams;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jabari Cowart, 36, warrants for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of cocaine; possession of a controlled substance; and possession of drug paraphernalia;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Joseph Dapolito, 63, driving without a license;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jonas Joseph, 45, possession of marijuana under 20 grams;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Dejon Lawrence, 26, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer; resisting without violence; possession of marijuana under 20 grams; and reckless driving;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Karon Wade, 25, accessory after the fact, and resisting without violence;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Camaron Wade, 22, resisting without violence;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Devonteial Gibson, 32, possession of cocaine; and resisting without violence<\/p>\n
\u2022 Juvenile, 16, attempted homicide; tampering with evidence; and unlawful carry of a firearm by a person under 18.<\/p>\n
After five days of coordinated enforcement efforts, Operation Summer Heat has produced the following results:<\/p>\n
\u2022 29 adult arrests;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Five juvenile arrests;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Eight firearms recovered;<\/p>\n
\u2022 One illegal machine gun conversion device (\u201cSwitch\u201d) recovered;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Two AR-15 style pistols (one with altered serial numbers) recovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cOperation Summer Heat continues to prove the value of strong law enforcement partnerships,\u201d said Sheriff Richard Del Toro in the Facebook posting. \u201cThe swift actions of our deputies, Fort Pierce Police officers, Aviation Unit, and K-9 teams led to the rapid apprehension of every suspect involved in this incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI commend every responder whose professionalism and determination helped bring this dangerous situation under control. Let this serve as a warning to violent offenders: when you commit a violent crime in our community, you will face a unified and relentless law enforcement response dedicated to protecting our residents and holding criminals accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis joint operation is about more than enforcement, it\u2019s about protecting our community through proactive policing and a unified commitment to public safety, said Fort Pierce Police Department Chief David Smith in the Facebook posting. \u201cThe actions of our Fort Pierce Police Department and St. Lucie County Sheriff\u2019s Office detectives, patrol officers, and specialty units during this incident demonstrate exactly why these collaborative efforts are so important.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin minutes, law enforcement rendered aid to a wounded juvenile, established a coordinated response, and successfully located every suspect involved. We remain committed to holding violent offenders accountable, removing illegal firearms from our streets, and ensuring the residents of Fort Pierce can live, work, and raise their families in a safer community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Law enforcement officials remind residents that all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The charges referenced are allegations and do not constitute evidence of guilt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE \u2013 On Day 5 of Operation Summer Heat, a collaborative crime suppression initiative in St. Lucie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":["post-305689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-st_lucie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}