Month: November 2017

Incident/Complaint#:  50-17-36936

Date/Time:   Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 at 3:35

Location:  800 Block of Paul Street, Dover, DE 

Officer Releasing Information:   M/Cpl. Mark Hoffman, Public Information Officer

Narrative:

The Dover Police Department arrested Godfrey Webb (24) on drug and firearms charges following a traffic stop on Wednesday afternoon.  Officers from the Dover Police Street Crimes Unit and Delaware Probation and Parole were in the 800 Block of Paul Street, when they witnessed Webb commit a traffic violation.  As a result of the vehicle stop, officers located 9.7 grams of marijuana and a loaded 9mm handgun in the vehicle.

Webb was released on $7,150 unsecured bond after being charged with the following offenses:
-Possession of Firearm by Person Prohibited
-Possession of Marijuana
-Carry Concealed Deadly Weapon
-Drug Parphernalia
-Traffic Offenses

Webb’s passenger, Christian Cole (23), was also charged with resisting arrest when officers took him into custody on a local fugitive charge.

Incident/Complaint#:  50-17-36294

Date/Time:   Friday, November 3rd, 2017 at 2:32AM

Location:  400 Block of S. New Street, Dover, DE

Officer Releasing Information:   M/Cpl. Mark Hoffman, Public Information Officer

Narrative:

The Dover Police Department has charged Antonio Tyler (38) with numerous traffic and drug charges following a vehicle chase on Friday morning.  Antonio Tyler was observed by patrol officers operating a white Hyundai Sonata in the 400 Block of S. New Street at 2:32AM when the vehicle struck a curb.  Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but Tyler refused to obey the officers emergency equipment/signals.  Tyler drove to Governors Avenue, where he began to flee from officers, at speeds over 100 miles per hour, traveling on the wrong side of the roadway at times, and running a red light at the Webbs Lane intersection.  The decision was made to discontinue the pursuit at that time in the interest of public safety.  

Antonio Tyler was later apprehended by the Delaware State Police at his residence in the Unit Block of Whispering Oak Drive in Milford, DE.  Further investigation, led to the discovery of full and empty bottles of alcohol in Tyler’s vehicle, a cigarette that had been dipped in PCP, and an unidentified white powder in a plastic bag that Tyler stated was powder cocaine.  

Antonio Tyler was committed to JTVCC in default of $2,750 secured bond on the following charges:
-Disregard Police Officer Signal
-Possession of Cocaine
-Drug Paraphernalia
-Driving Under the Influence 
-Driving While Suspended or Revoked
-Multiple Traffic Violations

Incident/Complaint#:  50-17-36521

Date/Time:   Sunday, November 5th, 2017 at 1:30AM

Location:  US Rt 13/N. DuPont Hwy. southbound at the intersection of the Delaware State University Main Entrance, Dover, DE

Officer Releasing Information:   M/Cpl. Mark Hoffman, Public Information Officer

Narrative:

The Dover Police Department is investigating a shooting incident that occurred on Sunday morning.  A 29-year-old driver with a 17-year-old passenger were driving in the right lane of southbound N. DuPont Highway near the main entrance of Delaware State University.  An unknown black 4-door vehicle was traveling the same direction in the center lane, when an unknown occupant of that vehicle began shooting a gun at the victims vehicle.  The vehicle was struck three times on the driver side and caused the driver to swerve, striking a pedestrian traffic signal at the intersection.  No injuries were reported.  No suspect information is available at this time.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the Dover Police Department at (302)736-7111. Callers may remain anonymous. Tips can also be submitted to law enforcement through tip lines maintained by Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333 or on-line at http://www.tipsubmit.com.

Incident/Complaint#:  50-17-36282

Date/Time:   Thursday, November 2nd, 2017 at 11:34PM

Location:  N. DuPont Highway and N.E. Kings Highway, Dover, DE (Traffic Stop)

Officer Releasing Information:   M/Cpl. Mark Hoffman, Public Information Officer

Narrative:

The Dover Police Department arrested 36-year-old Lavarr Archer on drug charges following a traffic stop on Thursday night.  At approximately 11:34PM, a Dover police officer on patrol, stopped Archer’s black GMC Yukon for a traffic violation in the area of N. DuPont Highway and N.E. Kings Highway.  During the stop, the officer searched the vehicle and discovered a glass bottle containing PCP, weighing 45 grams, a Tier 5 quantity.  Archer was arrested without incident and released on $2,100 unsecured bond on the following charges:
-Possession of PCP
-Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
-Traffic Offenses

The temperatures are dropping, days are shorter, and the leaves are changing which also means the holiday season is quickly approaching.  While this time of year is certainly joyous for most, there are many families that simply do not have the means to provide gifts for their children. The Holiday Heroes program by the Dover Police Department is here to help for the 5th consecutive year.  Holiday Heroes is a program that allows children from the Dover area to pair up with a Dover Police Officer to go shopping for Christmas gifts at the Dover Target store.  In 2016, the department was able to help 60 children from our area and provide them with a Christmas they likely would not have had.  The Dover Police Department is now launching a public fundraising campaign through the popular site Go Fund Me, to raise $5,000.00 by December 1st.  Donations can be made online at: www.gofundme.com/dpdkids or by calling or e-mailing Mark Hoffman at
302-736-7130/mark.hoffman@cj.state.de.us to make arrangements for an in person donation.

The City of Dover Police Department wrapped up a 7-week gang initiative on September 30^th, 2017 with assistance from the Delaware State Police, Department of Correction, and the ATF.

On May 26^th, 2017, Chief Marvin Mailey and City of Dover Mayor, Robin Christiansen, called for a stop to the rash of shootings that plagued the City of Dover.  With 23 shootings occurring before that date, and an additional seven in the month of June, there were significant concerns that Dover would surpass the previous year’s total of 40 shootings.

Throughout the investigations of the shootings that had already occurred, it was learned that the vast majority of them were gang related.  It was also learned that the Delaware State Police had been investigating several incidents of gang-related activity around the Dover area.  In July, a gang initiative task force was formed with assistance from the Delaware State Police, Department of Correction, and the ATF to combat gang violence in Dover.

During this time period, officers utilized special investigative techniques, surveillance, proactive patrols of known gang areas, and partnerships with other agencies such as Youth Probation to identify and investigate gang activities.

As a result of the initiative, officers were able to identify 101 suspected gang members in and around the Dover area, with 51 suspected of being involved in the “48 gang” and 39 suspected of being involved in the “WSG” (West Side Gang).  A total of 28 persons were officially validated as gang members.

Also, during this span, officers arrested a total of 55 individuals on 269 criminal charges, with 31 being known or suspected gang members.  A total of seventeen firearms, 2,594 bags of heroin, 16 grams of crack cocaine, 442.8 grams of marijuana, and 56 MDMA pills were recovered during the initiative that also included the execution of ten search warrants of various locations in the City of Dover.  At least one firearm has already been linked to two shootings that occurred in the City of Dover in July 2017.

“The mission of this initiative was to identify, investigate, and target gang members in and around the City of Dover with a specific focus on the 48 and West Side Gangs that have affected our communities with their involvement in drugs and violent activity.  While successful, this collaborative effort was just the beginning of our mission to stop violence in our city.  I thank the Delaware State Police, Delaware Department of Correction, the ATF, and the men and women of the Dover Police Department for their hard work during this initiative.  These law enforcement members knew this initiative would involve dealing with some of the most dangerous and violent criminals in our area, but never hesitated to when it came to making our mission a success and make our city safer.” said Chief Marvin Mailey.

Captain Joshua Bushweller of the Delaware State Police added “The Delaware State Police appreciate the strong partnership we have with the Dover Police Department and thank them for the opportunity to work collectively attacking gang related and violent crime in and around the Dover area.  We share in the success of the great work done by the Task Force and will continue to collaborate together on making all of our communities safer.”

ATF Special Agent in Charge (Baltimore Field Division), Daniel Board also stated: “In Delaware and throughout this great country, the men and women of ATF have no higher priority than to address organizational based – firearm related violent crime.  Of equal importance is the partnership we have and will continue to build with all our law enforcement partners.  Together, with these collaborations, we will relentlessly continue to take back the streets and communities we all serve and protect – one block at a time.”