14 arrested in Operation Granite Hammer sweep

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MANCHESTER, NH – Police arrested 14 people on Jan. 31 as part of its ongoing Operation Granite Hammer drug investigation.

Manchester Police Special Enforcement Division conducted a joint operation Tuesday night with New Hampshire State Police-Narcotics Investigation Unit and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration-HIDTA.

This is the tenth Granite Hammer initiative since its inception, and the second since October 2016.

Each Granite Hammer operation lasts approximately eight hours, so collectively Manchester Police have logged 123 arrests since Fall of 2015, when Operation Granite Hammer.

Manchester received nearly $400,000 in grant funding for the program last fall, which was specified for use to increase and support mobile enforcement sweeps in targeted zones of known trafficking; covert buy/bust operations; targeted street enforcement; execution of opioid-specific search and arrest warrants; surveillance of targeted drug activity; incident locations and associated subjects; and intelligence and data reporting to the New Hampshire Information Analysis Center at the New Hampshire Department of Safety.

Arrested and charged were:

Jabes Ayala-Ortiz, 21, of Manchester, was arrested in the Price Rite parking lot, located at 365 Lincoln St. at 3 p.m.  He was charged with possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute after detectives located 3.5 grams of heroin on him.

Taitana Cancela-Rivera, 28, of Manchester, was arrested at 5:45 p.m.  during a motor vehicle stop on Belmont Street, near Valley Street. Cancela-Rivera was charged with possession of a controlled substance (heroin) after a bag containing a small amount of heroin was located in plain view. She was also charged with operating without a valid license.

Caitilain Lami, 30, no fixed address, was arrested at 2:40 p.m. in the area of Merrimack Street ad Laurel Street. She was in possession of a glass pipe commonly used to smoke crack cocaine. The pipe contained trace amount of crack cocaine, so she was taken into custody and charged with possession of a controlled drug. She was released on $5,000 personal recognizance and is scheduled to appear  in the 9th Circuit Court-Manchester on March 8, 2017.

Joshua Marooney, 30, of Manchester, was picked up in the area of Lincoln Street and Valley Street at 3:10 p.m. Marooney was charged with possession of a controlled drug (cocaine), possession of a controlled drug (marijuana) and violation of bail conditions. He was in possession of 1.3 grams of cocaine and a small bag of marijuana.

Paul Phaneuf, 52, of Manchester, was arrested during a motor vehicle stop on Valley Street at 6 p.m.  Detectives witnessed Phaneuf pull into the shopping plaza, located at Valley and Lincoln Street, and park alongside another vehicle operated by Carl Albright, 52, no fixed address. The men engaged in a brief hand-to-hand transaction before exiting the parking lot.

Detective Derek Feather stopped Phaneuf on Valley Street for a motor vehicle infraction and he was found to be in possession of four bags of cocaine. He was arrested without incident. Additional detective’s stopped Albright in his Ford F150 on Old Falls Road a short time later. Albright was charged with sale of a controlled drug, for selling the cocaine to Phaneuf moments before he was stopped.

Don Raymond, 20, of Manchester was arrested at 6:40 p.m. during a motor vehicle stop near 435 Kelley St. for a motor vehicle infraction. The driver was not cited during the stop. However, Raymond appeared to be acting nervously as Officer Cody Healy approached him as he sat in the passenger’s seat. He exited the car after stating he was in possession of a knife and a pat search was conducted. The officer located a bag of cocaine inside of his pocket. He was charged with possession of a controlled drug (cocaine) and transported to police headquarters.

Tryce St. Pierre, 24, of Manchester, was taken into custody at his Central Street residence 3:45 p.m. yesterday. He was taken into custody on an arrest warrant for three counts of sale of a controlled drug. Detectives located ten small bags of heroin, totaling 4.8 grams, so he was also charged with possession of controlled drug with intent to distribute.

Lisa Lacerte, 32, of Manchester, was arrested outside of Home Depot after she was caught removing items from the store. Officers responded to the store around 3:30 p.m. and were told the female in question was in the parking lot. Officer Adam Terrizzi located a female walking northerly through the parking lot and called out to her. She began running away from the officer, but he caught her a short foot pursuit.

She fought with the officer and refused to comply with his lawful orders. The officers deployed the department-issued taser and she was taken into custody. She was in possession of a glass pipe, spoon and trace amounts of heroin. She was charged with possession of a controlled drug, and theft by unauthorized taking.

Joseph Straf, 26, of Litchfield,  was taken into custody during a motor vehicle stop at Livingston Park. Straf was stopped for a motor vehicle infraction around 2:50 p.m. when detectives discovered he was wanted on a probation violation out of Lynn, Mass., as well as an electronic bench warrant for disobeying a police officer. He was taken into custody without incident.

Mitchell Hanson, 58, of Manchester, was arrested at his Cleveland Street residence on a sale of a controlled drug warrant.

Omo-Morin Sunmonu, 40, of Manchester, was also arrested on a sale of controlled drug warrant. He was taken into custody at his Rimmon Street apartment without incident. His court date is not available at this time.

Duane Smith, 31, of Manchester was taken into custody on an ATF warrant for a firearms related charge. No arraignment information was available.

Lawrence Bonnell, 49, of Manchester, was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of drugs/alcohol by New Hampshire State Police. No arraignment information was available.

All were set for arraignment on Feb. 1 at the 9th Circuit District Court in Manchester, except where noted otherwise.


Editor’s note: The story has been corrected to reflect that all arrests were made Tuesday, Jan. 31.

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!