Coram dealer had ‘enormous’ amount of drugs, police say
A Coram man described as a neighborhood drug dealer was arrested Wednesday after authorities found “an enormous” amount of heroin in his home — as well as a cache of guns and more than $16,000 in cash, police said. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini announced the arrest of Keith Daves, 44, of Beach Lane at a news conference Wednesday at police headquarters in Yaphank.
“He was selling to people in the neighborhood who were using drugs,” Sini said. He described the suspect as a “violent offender” who was previously arrested on a rape charge in 1991. Records show Daves was sentenced to six months after taking a plea to sexual abuse. The heroin was “within the reach of five children between the ages of one and 12 living at the house,” police said in a later release.
Police executed a search warrant and seized a loaded AR-15 rifle, a 9 mm handgun, a Ruger and a stun gun, police said. Sini said authorities found 349 grams of heroin and the highly addictive drug fentanyl. He added that 27.4 grams of marijuana and digital scales were also seized, along with $16,387 in cash. The street value of the drugs is $83,000, police said. Daves faces multiple weapons, drug sale and possession counts, as well as charges of endangering the welfare of a child. He probably will be arraigned on Thursday, officials said.
Sini also announced another arrest — Kenneth Pellegrino of Rockaway Drive in Sound Beach — who had 110 grams of heroin, 75 grams of crack cocaine, and 33 grams of marijuana. Pellegrino had installed a security system, and had a 16-gauge shotgun on hand, digital scales, and just over $1,000 in cash, as well as $7,000 in fireworks, police said.
Sini cited the help of community members in making the two arrests. “Suffice it to say for now we are getting incredible assistance from the community and I think it’s because people know when they call we respond,” he said of the first arrest. The second one was due to a tip to the police department’s hotline, 631-852-NARC, he said.
