Residents Cheer As West Suburban Cops Bring Down Reputed Drug House

Caption: Police booking photos for Edward Creedon, 33, Matthew Cooley, 35, and Danielle A. Dipego, 30. The three were arrested on drug charges in an early morning police raid on Feb. 13, 2015 in Oak Park IL.

West suburban gang and drug officers discovered a cache of drugs and equipment for a purported drug operation in an Oak Park home notorious throughout the neighborhood for drug activity, police said.

The West Suburban Enhanced Drug and Gang Enforcement Task Force executed a narcotics search and arrested three people during an early morning raid last Friday at a home in the 1100 block of South Euclid Avenue in Oak Park.

Acting on a tip from a Riverside police informant, gang and drug tactical officers from the member agencies that comprise the west suburban task force, including Riverside and Oak Park, began surveilling the home for alleged drug activity in January.

Police said they observed numerous drug transactions, in which customers would drive to the home and purchase narcotics at the front door or by going inside the home and then quickly leave after the purchase.

At 6 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13, officers made their move, targeting a resident inside the single- family home named in the warrant, 33-year-old Edward P. Creedon. Police said that Creedon was present during the search.

“Usually they’re still asleep at that hour,” said Riverside Police Tom Weitzel, who chairs the task force. “In this case they weren’t asleep.”

Weitzel said that officers did not have to use force to get into the house, instead, the front door was unlocked and police were able to walk right in.

“We opened the door and announced the search warrant,” Weitzel said. “The target [Creedon] was standing in the foyer right at the door.”

Once inside the home, police found an extensive cache of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, and assorted paraphernalia and tools for processing, preparing, and cutting narcotics for resale, according to a WEDGE news advisory.

“They had a good amount of cocaine, both rock and powder,” Weitzel said. “Some there was for personal use and some was packaged for personal delivery. They were up all night partying and ready to sell narcotics.”

Police arrested two other individuals, Matthew A. Cooley, 35, of the 3000 block of West Lyndale Street in Chicago; and Danielle A. Dipego, 30 of the 700 block of North Linden in Oak Park.

Both had been illegally subletting space from Creedon, who would rent out rooms, floor space and couches to various transients in exchange for cash to support his own drug habit and business, Weitzel said.

“They were all awake and still highly under the influence when we arrested them,” Weitzel alleged.

Another renter present while the search warrant was underway, a 33-year-old male of the 100 block of North Euclid in Oak Park, was not charged. The other “renters” that drifted in and out of the home were also not targeted in the investigation.

Weitzel said no meth was being cooked in the home, but the meth found had been acquired from elsewhere.

“We’re still investigating where it came from,” the Riverside police chief said.

Police also found handwritten leases that Creedon made out to individuals for rental of his couch, and two sets of metal knuckles, Weitzel said.

Creedon was charged with one felony count each of possession and intent to deliver cocaine and methamphetamine and two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance. He was also charged with misdemeanor possession drug paraphernalia and unlawful use of a weapon.

Cooley was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. Dipego is facing a misdemeanor charge for possession of drug paraphernalia.

As the police task force was executing the warrant, Weitzel said residents came up and thanked police.

“Residents started cheering the officers as they were walking the prisoners out to the squad cars,” Weitzel said. “An elderly resident called me personally to say that she knew drug activity was happening at the house but was afraid of retribution if she reported it to police.”

Weitzel called the arrests significant and said that Creedon’s alleged drug enterprise extended into several west suburban communities, including Riverside and Oak Park.

“There was no resistance,” Weitzel said. “It was one of the most compliant search warrants that we ever executed.”

Police informed the property owner about search warrant after it was executed at the residence.

“The owner called and wanted to know if we secured the property or he needed to call a board-up service,” Weitzel said. “He hung up.”

All three suspects appeared in bond court at 26th and California on Saturday.

WEDGE was started in 2006 as a regional gang task force serving the western suburbs. Police departments from ten communities work together by combining resources to fight gang activity.