Three adults were arrested and large quantities of drugs were seized Wednesday when a search warrant was served in the 600 block of East Ninth Street by the Sedalia Police Department.
“It was a good investigation,” said Chief Matthew Wirt. “It took a lot of planning due to the danger of the substance. We found several different substances, one of the main being fentanyl, of course, fentanyl is very dangerous so we had to do a lot of planning to make sure the officers were safe, suspects were safe, and everybody around us was safe.”
When officers arrived, four adults and several children were in two vehicles outside the residence. In the first vehicle, the driver was found to have a loaded handgun with a high-capacity magazine. In the second vehicle, the driver was found with two handguns, high-capacity magazines, prescription pills, marijuana and more than $2,200 in cash. A front-seat passenger was found in possession of ecstasy pills. He lied to officers about his identity and was found to have outstanding warrants for his arrest. An AR-15 rifle was in the back seat.
A search of the residence turned up large amounts of fentanyl, marijuana, ammunition and paraphernalia including packaging materials and a scale.
“They had arrived at the home at the time we were serving the search warrant,” said Wirt, “so it was a coordination between the drug enforcement unit in our Patrol Division and our entry team members to be able to coordinate this operation.”
Three people were arrested and transported to the Pettis County Jail. Other adults were released from the scene.
Deontay Pearson-Daniels, 23, will be charged with first-degree drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, unlawful use of a weapon, and endangering the welfare of a child first-degree.
Deandre Williams, 29, is facing charges of possession of a controlled substance, and identity theft. He was also wanted on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear for second-degree domestic assault with a $25,000 bond, cash or surety, and a probation violation warrant with no bond.
Teresa Pearson-Daniels, 28, is facing charges of unlawful use of a weapon, first-degree trafficking of drugs, possession of a controlled substance, and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The first-degree trafficking charges are being sought due to the highly concentrated nature of the drugs seized.
“Part of the reason we are requesting this level of the charges is because it does take so little fentanyl to become a trafficking amount,” said Wirt.
Wirt wouldn’t say exactly how the information was gathered to support obtaining a search warrant but did ask for the public's assistance in identifying drug traffickers.
“If they think there's drug sales at a house, that's important to take all that in and talk to the police department. They can be anonymous and leave that tip, they can talk to our drug unit,” said Wirt.
Police took great care with the children on scene, said Wirt.
“Not all the children were their parents arrested, so we get them to an appropriate place with a safe adult to care for them and then we also contact the Children's Division and work with them on making sure there's a long-term care plan for the children,” he explained.
The Chief also mentioned there was help available for those involved with these addictive drugs.
“If someone's got a drug problem, seek treatment,” said Wirt. “Fentanyl is a highly addictive substance, ecstasy is a highly addictive substance. Check our Facebook, there's lots of different resources in the community and we want people to get treatment instead of coming to illegal sources and buying drugs. In this form, they are not safe and soon addiction can be very easily turned into a serious illness or death.”
