State police vice officers conduct drug raid
BUTLER — State police vice officers seized suspected crack cocaine, Suboxone, pills, digital scales and other contraband during a Wednesday afternoon drug raid at a duplex in Butler, authorities said.
Dawnetta L. Mentzer, 52, who lives at the home on the 400 block of West Penn Street, was arrested on felony and misdemeanor drug charges. She is in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail.
The police vice unit executed a sealed search warrant just before 2 p.m. at the home, where they found Mentzer in the living room, investigators said. She was allegedly holding a baggie of suspected crack.
In the living room, dining room and a bedroom, according to court documents, police found more crack in baggies, in a pill bottle and on a red plate.
The confiscated crack, in all, weighed about one-half ounce.
A search of Mentzer's purse turned up 18 Suboxone strips, an unlabeled pill bottle with 12 pills and $100 in currency.
The investigating officer said the defendant does not have a prescription for Suboxone, which is a narcotic medication approved for the treatment of opiate dependence.
Police said they found four digital scales and suspected drug-packaging materials in the dining room and two crack pipes in the kitchen.
District Judge Sue Haggerty arraigned Mentzer on a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.Her preliminary hearing was not immediately set.Court records showed that Mentzer has five felony drug convictions.Also arrested in the raid was Thomas J. Rodgers, 52, of East Butler, who police found on the porch when they got to the home with the warrant.He was searched and found with a crack pipe, police said.Haggerty arraigned Rodgers on a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was later remanded to the county prison on $5,000 bail.
