SAMIHA KHANNA, ERIC FERRERI
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
DURHAM -- The discovery of cocaine at a northern Durham bar led to the firing Monday of three Durham sheriff's deputies, including one already charged with drug trafficking and another considered a gang expert.
Deputy Michael P. Owens, arrested Friday after officials raided his business, La Zona Sports Bar & Billiards on North Roxboro Street, was dismissed along with Deputy William Keith Dodson, and Cpl. Bradley King.
Dodson and King, both deputies since 1999, were fired for violating policies governing off-duty work, Sheriff Worth Hill said.
The two spent time inside La Zona while hired to guard the door. Sheriff's Office policy states that while working at a bar, deputies must stay outside, Hill said.
Neither had been charged with a crime. "Some people may have violated the law, but we are unable to prove that at this time," said Capt. Paul Martin of the Sheriff's Office.
Dodson headed an anti-gang unit and often gave multimedia presentations to the public and police on gang colors and hand signs. His work earned him a national award in 2004 from the National Gang Crime Research Center in Chicago.
Hill said there's no evidence Dodson's work as a gang investigator was involved with the crimes he says happened at La Zona.
Reached by phone Monday, Dodson declined to comment. Efforts to contact King and Owens were unsuccessful.
King worked as a patrol deputy. Owens, of 4800 University Drive, Apt. 29-G, worked in civil law enforcement with tax collections. All three are in their early 30s, Martin said.
Hill said he knew each of the deputies well, especially Dodson, whom he coached on a youth football team years ago.
"If I was a betting man, I would have lost some money," Hill said. "They were outstanding deputies."
So far, five men, including former Deputy Owens, have been charged in the discovery of 4.5 ounces of cocaine at La Zona during a raid Friday night.
The four others charged with trafficking by possession of the cocaine were: Sergio Garcia Perez, 23; Mario Garcia Segura, 21; and Isidoro Vallinas Domingues, 25, all of 3106 E. Geer St.; and Jose Manuel Ramirez, 21, of 453 California St. in Belhaven.
Owens is the bar's sole owner, said Maj. Lucy Zastrow. The building's owner was changing the locks on La Zona's front doors Monday to evict the business, and the bar's alcohol permits were being revoked, officials said.
The venue is nestled in a strip of businesses on North Roxboro Street. It has been operating as a bar and pool hall since at least 1989 under names including Touchdown Billiards and Somewhere Else Sports Bar, according to records with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
It appears Owens took over the business within the past year. In August, Owens started a company, MOR Enterprises, and days later applied for a temporary permit to serve beer and wine at La Zona, according to state records.
The only complaints that alcohol law enforcement officials have received about the bar were about beer bottles and other litter scattered by patrons, said Derrick McMillan, chief of law enforcement for the Durham County Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
Monday's firings culminated at least two months of surveillance and collaboration with federal officers, Zastrow said.
Hill said he's now considering banning officers from off-duty work in bars. The temptations may be just too great, he said.
