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Three arrested after ‘buy bust’ in Walmart parking lot in St. Clairsville

T-L Photo/JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH Belmont County sheriff’s cruisers surround a vehicle in the Walmart parking lot in St. Clairsvillle on Saturday evening as part of a “basic buy-bust,” according to Sheriff David Lucas. Three people were arrested on drug-related charges as a result of the investigation.
Harsher
Moon
Nettles
Nearly $1,800 in cash, cocaine and related items are displayed after they were confiscated by local law enforcement Saturday.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Two Toledo men and a local woman are jailed after an investigation of illegal drug trafficking culminated in a busy retail parking lot.

Sheriff David Lucas said the arrests were made Saturday evening, following a “basic buy-bust” in the parking lot of the Walmart store at the Ohio Valley Plaza just outside St. Clairsville.

He said Bridgeport police officers who also are part of the county’s Major Crimes Unit took the lead on the case, which led to a controlled drug buy inside a black Jeep parked in the lot.

Lucas noted that two people were arrested immediately after the deal concluded, while a third individual was arrested later at a nearby

hotel.

Several sheriff’s cruisers carrying members of the Criminal Interdiction Team and sheriff’s Detective Randy Stewart converged on the Jeep parked in Row 5 of the lot as shoppers and their families entered and exited the store at about 6 p.m. Saturday.

Some bystanders worried aloud about the activity of the armed officers as they ushered their children into their vehicles.

Two people were arrested in the parking lot: Trevor Da’sean Nettles, 22, of Toledo, Ohio, and Nodia Marie Harsher, 19, of Wheeling.

Both were charged with first-degree felony trafficking in drugs and lodged in the Belmont County Jail, each in lieu of $20,000 bond. Lucas said they remained in custody Monday.

According to the sheriff, as the controlled buy took place, Nettles accepted the money for payment in the transaction, while Harsher handed over cocaine, which allegedly had been concealed on her person. Officers at the scene confiscated the cocaine as well as related items and $1,781 in cash.

“Our guy got in (the Jeep) and Nettles took the money,” Lucas said.

Additional investigation led officers to the Knights Inn on National Road in St. Clairsville, according to Lucas, where they found a third individual believed to be connected to the case. At that location, they arrested Michael Montreal Moon, 24, also of Toledo. Lucas said investigators found a backpack in Moon’s room that allegedly contained cocaine and drug paraphernalia. Lucas said Moon also had several boxes of baking soda, a scale, spoons and other items associated with “cutting” cocaine and preparing it for sale.

Moon is facing charges of first-degree felony complicity to drug trafficking, obstruction of official business and possession of drug abuse instruments. He was still being held at the jail Monday in lieu of $21,500 bond.

Lucas said it is not unusual for people from outside the area, including Toledo, Ohio, to be arrested locally for illegal drug activity.

“They come from all around,” the sheriff said.

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