Crack Cocaine Dealer Busted In Towamencin: Cops

Towamencin police have busted an alleged crack cocaine dealer after a lengthy investigation.

Dominic Marshae Lee, 25, has been charged with possession with intent to deliver, illegal possession of a firearm, and related counts, according to a criminal complaint.

Investigators were first tipped off to Lee in February of 2016 when a confidential informant told police that Lee keeps a semi-automatic handgun with him at all times and that he routinely displays the weapon, the complaint states.

While Lee was being monitored nearly a year later in January of 2017, officers noticed that he posted selfies on Facebook holding two different phones. Commonly switching phones is a tactic used by drug dealers, the complaint states.

Lee had already been arrested in June of 2013 for possession of cocaine and marijuana. There was also a complaint against Lee in July of 2016 of increased foot traffic at his residence on the 800 block of Wedgewood Drive soon after he moved in. Taken together, investigators became suspicious that all these factors - the weapon, the multiple phones, the prior conviction, and the activity at his home - could be indicating a drug operation.

In February 2017 investigators worked with another confidential source on two controlled buys of crack cocaine from Lee at his home on Wedegewood Drive. Authorities executed a search warrant at the home on Friday, March 3, at around 10 a.m., but Lee wasn't there.

Police discovered Lee was at his girlfriend's residence on the 400 block of E. Summit Street, according to the criminal complaint SWAT teams converged on the site and saw Lee, a woman, a man, and three children walking out of the home into a van outside. The van drove away and authorities were able to pull it over and arrest Lee without further incident, police said.

A preliminary hearing is forthcoming.

Patch file photo