Police

School employee arrested following drug raid at Riverhead bus garage

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A Riverhead school employee was arrested following a raid at the school’s bus garage last week as part a drug bust targeting various East End locations.

Riverhead police assisted the East End Drug Task Force at four locations last Thursday, police records show. The recorded police activity logs state that the task force investigated a property on Riverside Drive, an apartment at the Millbrook Apartments complex, a home on Zion Street in Aquebogue and the school bus garage.

The 6:50 a.m. bus garage investigation led to the arrest of Antwon Hayes, 31, of Riverhead, according to police. Mr. Hayes was charged with first-degree conspiracy and pleaded not guilty in Suffolk County criminal court, according to online court records. He was released without bail one day after he was arrested, the records show.

Mr. Hayes was an employee of the Riverhead school district at least through 2016, according to SeeThroughNY.net, an online directory of state public employees. Riverhead school superintendent Nancy Carney did not respond to requests for comment. [On Thursday, Ms. Carney released a statement]

Southampton police reported arresting three people on conspiracy charges during two raids in Riverside that same day. The arrests were confirmed to be part of a larger East End Drugs Task Force investigation.

Police said John Woods, 74, and Rochelle Allen, 45, were arrested that day at a home on Old Quogue Road, while 36-year-old Terrance Pope was arrested at a different location on the same street.

All three were charged with first-degree conspiracy to commit a class A felony and pleaded not guilty, according to online court records. Mr. Woods and Mr. Pope were held on $40,000 cash bail or $80,000 bond. Ms. Allen was held on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond, according to the records.

Mr. Woods had previously been arrested in an East End Drugs Task Force raid in 2012 on the same conspiracy charge, according to a previous report in the News-Review. The outcome of that court case wasn’t immediately available in online court records.

At least one other suspect was arrested by Riverhead Town police at the property on Riverside Drive last Thursday, though that person’s identity has not yet been released.

The Zion Street home had previously been raided by authorities last year as part of a major drug bust that netted 14 arrests. 

At the time, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota described the house as a distribution center for a drug ring and had “long been a source of concern” for police.

A District Attorney spokesperson declined comment Wednesday on the investigation, saying more information was forthcoming.

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