Alleged crack dealer nabbed
Dominic Lee, 25, faces drug and weapons charges after bust
TOWAMENCIN >> A 25-year-old alleged crack cocaine dealer has been arrested and is facing drug and weapons charges after a month-long investigation by Towamencin detectives, authorities said.
Dominic Marshae Lee, of the 800 block of Wedgewood Drive, is being held at Montgomery County jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail. Lee has been charged with two counts of felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, one count of felony illegal firearms possession, and two marijuana-related misdemeanors.
Towamencin police launched a probe into Lee’s alleged drugdealing activities in February, according to court documents filed in the case. During the course of the investigation — which included surveillance during which Lee engaged in crack cocaine
transactions, court documents state — detectives learned that Lee might be in possession of a handgun. A convicted felon, court records show, Lee is prohibited from possessing firearms.
Authorities obtained search warrants for Lee’s residence and his person, and on the morning of March 3, Towamencin police, along with Montgomery County SWAT and members of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Local Drug Task Force raided Lee’s home. Lee was not there, and investigators found no crack cocaine in the residence but did locate “controlled substance (packaging) material” and a box containing 12 rounds of .32 caliber ammunition in Lee’s bedroom, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Police said they learned Lee was staying with his girlfriend in Telford, and Towamencin detectives went to her residence and saw Lee get into his girlfriend’s minivan along with his girlfriend, a man and three children. The vehicle drove off, but Towamencin police, along with Souderton and Franconia police, pulled the minivan over and took Lee into custody for the purposes of executing the search warrant on his person, according to court documents.
After being told that police had recovered ammunition from his home and suspected he possessed a firearm, Lee said that there was a gun under the passenger seat — cops recovered a Browning .32 caliber semiautomatic pistol in a compartment under the seat, which Lee later admitted was his, the affidavit states.
Cops also found marijuana and a marijuana grinder in the minivan, which Lee said belonged to him.
Lee is due in Lansdale district court on March 17 for a preliminary hearing in the case.
Court records indicate that in 2012, Lee was convicted of first-degree felony burglary in connection with a 2010 arrest by Hatfield Township police.