Detroit-Based Heroin Distribution Ring Dismantled by KPD and DA’s Office
On Thursday, August 7, 2014, Officers with the Knoxville Police Department Repeat Offender Squad and the District Attorney General’s Office closed Chalmers Grill and Night Club located at 513 North 17th Street under the state nuisance law. This establishment was closed by order of Judge Bob McGee based on KPD’s investigation into a Detroit-based heroin distribution ring that used the business as one of its hubs of operation.
General Nichols filed the petition outlining the police investigation that revealed the business to be a center of distribution in a criminal conspiracy that brought large amounts of heroin from Detroit, Michigan, to Knoxville. KPD made video and audio-recorded purchases of heroin from owners, employees, and patrons inside the business. Additionally, the DA’s Office filed a Violation of Probation for Facilitation of Possession with Intent to Sell Schedule I drugs against one of the business owners, Rickey Brown, a Detroit native. In short, General Nichols charges that this business is a haven of criminal activity and a danger to the surrounding community. The property will remain closed until further order of Judge McGee.
This nuisance injunction marks the forty-fourth closure by the District Attorney’s Office and Knoxville Police Department in their ongoing collaboration to make neighborhoods safer from the activities that affect the safety and quality of life of residents in this community. The State will continue to seek nuisance injunctions for problem properties as crime data show an estimated eighty-five percent reduction in crime and calls for service in areas after the nuisance closure of a property.
The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank the Knoxville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their hard work in this investigation.
If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.