David Reed, 53, recounts the events that led up to his arrest Aug. 8 on a charge of permitting drug abuse at his Bronson Street home. Curtis Debose, 34, also was arrested that day on a charge of trafficking in heroin. (ANDREW DAVIS / GAZETTE)
Medina Municipal Judge Dale H. Chase has dismissed criminal charges against the owner of a Bronson Street house that police say is a hub of drug activity in Medina.
David Reed, 53, of 416 Bronson St., was arrested Aug. 8 on a charge of permitting drug abuse, a fifth-degree felony.
In his Monday ruling, Chase said there was “no probable cause” to support the charge.
Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman, however, said he will continue to press the case by taking it to a grand jury next week.
Holman said his decision was made “immediately after” Chase made his ruling.
Reed said Thursday he did not know the prosecutor planned to take the case to a grand jury.
Reed and 34-year-old Curtis Debose, who was charged with trafficking in heroin, a fifth-degree felony, were arrested after police said undercover agents from the Medina County Drug Task Force witnessed a drug transaction on the property.
Curtis Debose
Debose remained in Medina County Jail on Thursday.
Reed said he wasn’t aware that Debose was selling drugs on his property that day and recounted the events that led up to his arrest.
“We were outside having a fire and Debose must have stepped off to the side to make the transaction,” he said.
“I did not see any hand-to-hand transaction take place.”
He said he had made it clear to his friends that they could not sell drugs on his property.
“I know that they sell drugs, but this is not the place where they can be doing that,” he said.
Reed, who has served time for trafficking in heroin, said he is committed to turning his life around, but after an accident at his manufacturing job he was placed on disability leave.
“I started working and stopped doing drugs,” he said. “It is hard to get a job as an ex-convict and it is keeping me from my old habits.”
Reed said he believes he was arrested to strengthen the city’s case against him in a lawsuit that would evict him from his house.
The city filed a lawsuit in March that would label Reed’s home, which is owned by his brother, Edward Reed, as a “nuisance” because “illegal drug activity at the premises has created a hazard to the community and a nuisance.”
The city’s complaint cites 10 occasions, from 2007 to 2010, where narcotics were on the property. On eight of those occasions, undercover officers bought crack-cocaine from David Reed.
Police executed search warrants two different times during that period and found narcotics during each search.
Reed was indicted on eight counts of trafficking in heroin in May 2011 and pleaded guilty to four as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to 11 months in prison.
He was released from prison in 2012 and said he since has been trying to put his life back together.
“I have worked so hard to turn my life around,” he said. “I don’t want to see that all my efforts have been in vain.”
A mediation hearing on the eviction lawsuit is scheduled for Nov. 5.
Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @adavisreports.
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