Predawn raids net 23 Bucks County suspects

Yardley, 5:20 a.m.

Cpl. Tim Reeves is driving in his unmarked Dodge Magnum when his police radio chirps.

His team, serving a bench warrant nearby, needs help: A suspect has barricaded himself in the attic. The team needs Reeves - and Kendo.

Kendo is Reeves' drug-sniffing dog, a 10-year-old German shepherd with a mean bark. Just the sound of the dog could scare a suspect out of a house, the corporal knows.

Racing along empty streets on an unseasonably warm morning, Reeves speeds to the scene. As he pulls up, he sees predawn spotlights aimed on the house. The suspect has surrendered and sits in the back of a squad car.

No need for Kendo.

"Good job," Reeves tells the team as he rolls down the car window.

Then he's off again. "So much for bucolic Yardley," he chuckles.

Reeves, of Lower Makefield, was one of 40 officers to participate Monday in "Operation Clean Sweep," a warrant-serving effort by the Lower Makefield, Falls Township, and Morrisville Police Departments and the Bucks County Sheriff's Office.

Local and county forces had not coordinated a day like this in years. They compiled a list of more than 100 targets: men and women who had ignored bench warrants, been late on child support payments, or charged with dealing drugs.

Even if officers arrested only a few, they thought, the effort could send a message to other alleged deadbeats and scofflaws.

Before the sweeps began, a supervisor declared that two suspects had been nabbed. "It's already a good day," says Dennis Shook, chief of the county Sheriff's Office.

Still, he hoped for more.

Lower Makefield, 6 a.m.

The screams are audible down the block.

"Get out of my house," the irate father bellows at Reeves and his squad, peppering his sentences with profanity.

Unbeknownst to Reeves, another team has already visited in search of the man's son, alleged thief Daniel Cummins, who isn't there. The father isn't pleased to endure a second police visit before dawn.

Reeves offers the man his business card but can't calm him down. The father bristles, says he might file a complaint.

Not much is new to Reeves, 41, a supervisor on Lower Makefield's narcotics unit. He's been a police officer for 21 years.

Why?

"I like the action," he says.

Falls Township, 6:20 a.m.

Two large vans sit in the parking lot of a storage facility off Business Route 1.

This is the operation's command center.

As officers from the four agencies serve their warrants, Falls Lt. Henry Ward sits in a van, radio in hand, listening to the arrest reports come in.

Ward has taped four printouts on the wall, listing suspects by region, a scorecard of sorts. When each is picked up, he marks their names with a "C" - for "in custody."

Shook says county sheriff's departments often combine on warrant sweeps, but coordinating with local police forces is rare, or has been in Bucks County.

Monday's efforts had been in the planning for weeks. If all goes well, the agencies might repeat the exercise more frequently.

"This is a job you can't do alone," Shook says.

Falls Township, 7:15 a.m.

With daylight breaking, Reeves joins a team knocking on apartment doors off Trenton Avenue.

Warrants are best served early, when people might be asleep. But now it is Reeves who is tired. He enjoyed the Eagles' win the day before.

There will be no crashing down doors. If a suspect isn't home, the officers simply move on.

That's what happens again and again in the apartment complex.

Falls Police Headquarters, 9 a.m.

The tally: Five hours, 23 people in custody, and no injuries to police or suspects.

Five were secured on arrest warrants, says Ward. Among them: John McRae of Lower Makefield, charged with simple assault, and Kevin Vaden of Levittown, charged with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

An additional 18 were scooped up for having missed court appearances, including six alleged child support deadbeats who together owe more than $75,000.

Officials are pleased with the efforts.

"We wanted to send a clear and definitive message," says Lower Makefield Police Chief Kenneth Coluzzi. "You can run, but you cannot hide."

As his boss addresses the press, Reeves sits in the back of the conference room, chatting with other officers.

Then he hops in his car with Kendo, and heads back to work.