Sarasota Police: ‘Operation Four Corners’ Results in 49 Arrests HD

Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino announced the arrest of 49 individuals in Operation Four Corners during a news conference Friday morning. A total of 54 people were involved in the selling of narcotics during Operation Four Corners. One individual qualified for Drug Market Intervention (DMI), which is no or deferred prosecution based on: their acceptance of the offer to participate and successful program completion. The remaining 53 individuals have a combined 1,012 prior felony charges, with 455 resulting in felony convictions. Five of these individuals had more than 20 prior felony convictions each. They have a combined 905 misdemeanor charges with 457 resulting in misdemeanor convictions. All totaled, this is 1,917 prior charges and 912 prior convictions for criminal violations. As of today, Sarasota Police have arrested 49 of the 53 wanted individuals resulting in 93 new felony and 7 new misdemeanor criminal charges. Officers are still actively looking for the remaining 4. Two of these individuals will be prosecuted in the federal system. Officers are still searching for: • Timothy Newsome, DOB 12/24/1973 – Sale of Cocaine w/in 1000’ of a School • Lazzarrie Rolle, DOB 12/08/1974 – Sale of Cocaine w/in 1000’ of Public Housing • Daryl Peterson, DOB 10/21/1985 – Sale of Cocaine w/in 1000’ of a Daycare (3 counts) • Adam Perez, DOB 10/01/1991 – Sale of Cocaine w/in 1000’ of a Park Operation Four Corners took place over a period of approximately 9 months, culminating in January 2018. 7 firearms were seized, one of which was an AR-15. The name ‘Four Corners’ was chosen because the majority of transactions were made from four, highly trafficked street corners. They are: o 27th Street & Washington Court o 27th Street & Central Avenue o Central Avenue & 11th Street o Central Avenue & 9th Street Undercover detectives were utilized to identify the dealers in these areas and begin making covert purchases of illicit narcotics from those involved. The operation utilized the DMI strategy which Sarasota Police adopted as a crime reduction technique in 2012. Crime mapping and citizen complaints were used to identify significant areas of “Open Air” drug markets. The purpose of the long-term operation was to disrupt open-air drug markets within the City of Sarasota. Senior members of the State Attorney’s Office have met with Sarasota Police detectives and reviewed each case and the criminal history of each individual involved to prepare a prosecution strategy.