DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Police in Daytona Beach have announced an early morning raid at a beachside motel that has been known for some time as a haven for drug users and neighborhood criminals. The department’s Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Unit conducted Friday morning’s operation at the Camellia Motel on 1055 North Atlantic Avenue after obtaining four search warrants during an investigation that started several months ago.
Officers entered the property just before 6 o’clock on December 4 and took those people into custody then, according to DBPD Patrol Captain Scott Lee.
“We had a group of individuals that entrenched themselves in that property,” Lee added. “They were living out of there. They were abusing drugs, mostly methamphetamine, heroin [and] fentanyl.”
This group of people was also committing crimes in that neighborhood to fuel their drug habit, mainly through finding and taking valuable items discovered during vehicle and home break-ins.
Management at the motel was aware of this group and allowing them to stay on property despite the issues they were causing.
The property manager – 61-year-old Gregory Holman – is charged with maintaining a public nuisance structure. The other six arrested and their charges stemming from today’s raid are listed below.
- Brandon Downing (37 years old)
- Possession of Methamphetamine with intent to sell
- Jessica Rosson (35 years old)
- Possession of Methamphetamine with intent to sell
- Shane Smith (31 years old)
- Possession of Paraphernalia
- Possession of Methamphetamine / Fentanyl / Heroin
- Josephine Stanley (28 years old)
- Possession of Paraphernalia
- Possession of Methamphetamine / Fentanyl / Heroin
- Rebecca Wells (28 years old)
- Possession of Methamphetamine
- Possession of Paraphernalia
- William Whitehead (43 years old)
- Possession of Methamphetamine
- Possession of Paraphernalia
- Possession of Ammunition by a convicted felon
- Resisting Arrest without violence
Two of the people arrested – Downing and Whitehead – are also documented as gang members.
Three of the search warrants allowed officers to search specific rooms at the motel, while another was for the office area.
A fifth search warrant was written up and executed shortly after the raid based on information discovered during the raid, per Lee.
“I appreciate the community’s support on this,” Lee noted. “If they have any locations in which they believe this type of activity is going on, please report it to us so we can get it to the right unit and get this worked.”
