ORANGE PARK, Fla. – A raid of a suspected drug house in the Hickory Glen neighborhood early Friday morning turned up 15 people -- one just a baby -- and deputies made at least five arrests, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.
William Endres, 30, was charged with maintaining a drug house. Joseph Hand and Haley Thompson, both 21, along with Aviron Lippus, 18, were charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug equipment. Devontae Gibson, 21, was charged with marijuana possession.
Sheriff Darryl Daniels was on hand when the SWAT team served a search warrant at the home shortly before 9 a.m. The Sheriff's Office posted video of part of the raid on social media.
News4Jax has learned that deputies had been called to the home 25 times since June 30, to investigate assaults, fights, disturbances and drug cases.
"The cops are out here at least a couple of times a month," said a neighbor who didn't give their name.
The baby found inside was turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
In a video posted to Facebook, Daniels issued a warning to criminals living in Clay County and gave them his oft-uttered ultimatum:
"If you commit crimes in Clay County, you've got options: You can stop what you're doing, you can leave Clay County, or you, too, will be on the receiving end of this," Daniels said.
Gripping a thermos, Daniels said the investigation was called "Operation: You Were Warned," because all 15 people arrested were warned previously.
Later, Daniels could be seen walking into the home, where he warned those watching that they, too, may wake up to find him in their homes if they run afoul of the law.
"Fifteen going to jail, three Big Gulps," the sheriff said after a long swig from his thermos.
News4Jax spoke with residents of the home, some of whom were charged. They said the Sheriff’s Office was overly aggressive and they did not appreciate the sheriff's video.
"I don’t understand why they gotta take camera footage of my house and the sheriff take a cup of coffee in my living room," said Jonah Laugen, who lives in the home. "That **** don’t fly."
A neighbor said he watched Daniels in the video five times.
"It was awesome. I like seeing someone take control of that crap," the neighbor said.
Narcotics Search Warrant🔺UPDATE 01.05.18, 3:45PM: During today’s Arrest/Search warrant our members seized heroin/fentanyl, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and other evidence related to narcotics distribution. Five arrests were made on adults for felony/misdemeanor charges, along with one juvenile arrested on a misdemeanor. On a previous case at this same home our members seized a trafficking amount of MDMA, along with cocaine. There have also been medical calls from the home which we believe were related to overdoses. It should be noted that besides these incidents, our agency has responded to this residence nearly 30 times in the last six months. There have been reports of shots being fired, fights in progress, disturbances and much more, thus the reason we utilized the safety equipment brought in. The safety of our community and officers is of the utmost importance; therefore, we take no chances. We want to say thank you to the Hickory Glen Neighborhood and citizens of Clay County for your support through this. Your kind comments and appreciation is not overlooked or taken for granted. #CCSOFL Narcotics Arrest/Search warrant served in the Orange Park neighborhood of Hickory Glen: #CCSOFL
Posted by Clay County Sheriff's Office, Florida on Friday, January 5, 2018