5 arrested at Sumter motel for trafficking cocaine

All suspects were found on search warrant for one room

Posted

Five South Carolinians were arrested on drug charges this week after Sumter County Sheriff's Office deputies executed a search warrant on one Lynchburg motel room.
Deputies entered a room at the Relax Inn Motel, 10320 Lynches River Road, on Tuesday and were able to charge every person in the room for some part in what they seized — 29.1 grams of suspected crack cocaine; 12.9 grams of cocaine; a Taurus 9mm handgun; $203 in cash; four digital scales; a plastic cup that contained baking soda, which is used to manufacture crack cocaine; a box of sandwich bags; white powder residue from the front of a microwave oven; and a plastic bottle converted to a crack-smoking device, according to Ken Bell, public information officer for the sheriff's office.
"This is the culmination of many hours spent investigating these individuals," Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said. "Our officers were able to stop a large quantity of drugs from hitting the streets of Sumter County and arrest the people responsible in the process."
David Bryan Tyler, 55, of Tyler Lane in Sumter; April Brown Moore, 37, of Old Manning Road in Scranton; Jimmy Devette Singleton, 31, of Trinity Road in Lynchburg; Michael Reese Hickman, 31, of Baker Street in Olanta; and Desmond Anquan Washington, 30, of Fullard Street in Lynchburg were each charged with trafficking cocaine — 10 grams or more but less than 28 grams; first-offense trafficking in meth or cocaine base — 28 grams or more but less than 100 grams; and first-offense manufacture, distribution, etc., of cocaine base.
Dennis said this group of arrests is just one more part of his agency's campaign against drugs and drug dealers in Sumter County.
"Unfortunately, people never seem to learn," he said. "If you are buying or selling drugs, you will eventually get caught. And getting caught by us is better than dying from a drug overdose."
All five were taken to Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center and are scheduled for a March 16 court date.
The bond for Singleton was denied. Bonds for Tyler and Washington were each set at $65,000 surety, and bonds for Moore and Hickman were each set at $40,000 surety.