Sarasota Police Department executes search warrant on Lime Avenue residence after receiving tips from public about suspected illegal activities
A 46-year-old Sarasota man has been charged with five felony drug counts after the Sarasota Police Department executed a search warrant at his Lime Avenue home on Dec. 4 and “discovered $25,045 in cash, 79.4 grams of marijuana, 100.5 grams of rock cocaine and 775.5 grams of cocaine in liquid form,” the agency has announced.
Antrone Devest Thomas, of 514 Lime Ave., has been charged with Trafficking in Cocaine, Manufacturing Cocaine, owning or renting a structure known to traffic drugs, Tampering with Evidence, and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, his Probable Cause Affidavit says.
Thomas is being held in the county jail under total bond of $205,500, his Sarasota County Sheriff’s office booking record showed. His arraignment has been scheduled for Dec. 31. As of the morning of Dec. 10, he remained in custody, his jail record said.
Sarasota Police Department SWAT and Strategic Intelligence Unit (SIU) detectives executed the search warrant on Thomas’ home on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 6 a.m., a Police Department news release reports. “Tips about narcotics sales at the home initiated the investigation,” the release explains.
Thomas has been convicted 20 times on prior charges, the release notes.
He was the only person at the home when officers arrived, the release says.
The following items were located during the search warrant, the release continues:
- “Two bags of crack cocaine.
- “One empty bag.
- “Multiple pieces of crack cocaine.”
The release adds that the following items were found with white residue that tested positive for cocaine:
- “A scale.”
- A type of pot “commonly used to make crack cocaine.
- “Two razor blades.”
“This case remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the release points out. “Anyone with any information is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070.
A breach of the front door and a run to the bathroom
Thomas’ Probable Cause Affidavit says that when the Police Department’s SWAT team and the SIU detectives arrived at his home, officers “knocked and announced themselves and then breached the front door.”
One officer saw Thomas “running to the bathroom, throwing items into the toilet and flushing the toilet,” the affidavit notes. “Commands were given to Thomas to get on the ground,” it adds, “which he eventually did …” Thomas was placed in double-locked handcuffs, the affidavit points out, and then he was taken outside.
Once out of the house, the affidavit continues, an officer read Thomas the search warrant and his Miranda Rights. He responded that he understood the latter “and requested his lawyer,” the affidavit says. “Thomas was then transported to SPD headquarters and eventually to the hospital to be medically cleared,” the affidavit continues.
When a search of the bathroom was conducted, the affidavit says, “two bags of suspected crack cocaine [were found] floating inside the toilet bowl.”
A search of his bedroom found the items the news release listed above, as noted in the affidavit. Additionally, crack cocaine was “located in a top dresser drawer and on top of [a] clock in the corner of the bedroom.”
Because Thomas had flushed drugs, the affidavit explains, workers with the City of Sarasota Public Works Department were called; they cut open the sewage pipe to the house and used a camera to look into the pipe, the affidavit continues. The camera “revealed multiple plastic bags, similar to the ones found floating in the toilet.”
The affidavit says that the following items were removed from the sewer pipe: two bags filled with suspected crack cocaine, one empty bag “and multiple pieces of crack cocaine.”
Further, officers collected a sample of water from the toilet and conducted a field test on it, the affidavit adds. The test “yielded positive results for the presence of cocaine,” the affidavit points out.
“All the crack cocaine collected, digital scale, shoebox and razor blades were field tested with SPD approved test kits, which yielded positive results for cocaine,” as well, the affidavit says.