9 charged after SWAT raid on Strafford Street

LACONIA — Police and the Belknap County SWAT team executed a search warrant at a house Thursday afternoon that resulted in charges against nine people and a secure campus order at Laconia High School.

Officers breached the home at 55 Strafford St. after obtaining a search warrant, around 12:30 p.m., Chief Matt Canfield said.

“It was a joint operation between our drug unit and the Attorney General’s Drug Task Force,” Canfield said.

Arrested in the raid were Sheri Neely, 43; James McNeil Sr., 44; Daniel Sorrell, 46; Amanda Heathcote, 31; James York, 40; Phillip Stebbins, 34; Thomas McNeil Sr., 64; Cory O’Bara, 43 and Megan Jenna, 40. Charges included controlling a premises where drugs are kept, common nuisances, endangering the welfare of a child and bench warrants.

More charges may be forthcoming, Canfield said.

The investigation, which was initiated months ago, was determined to be high risk enough to justify employing the SWAT team, according to a matrix used to assess high-risk police operations.

In addition to the Belknap County Special Operations Group SWAT team, the detective unit at Laconia PD and their uniform patrol division were also on site. Gilford police were there following the operation.

After calling out numerous times, some of the suspects exited the house at the request of officers at the scene. 

“We did not encounter violent resistance,” Canfield said.

As of Thursday afternoon, detectives remained on scene processing evidence. It was not yet known if drugs, weapons or contraband was seized.

“This was a cooperative effort,” Canfield said.

The operation was funded by the Granite Shield grant, which aids police departments in combat narcotics operations. 

Canfield commended the work of officers in his department and the task force.

“We work very hard to eliminate people dealing narcotics in our city and this was the result of a months-long investigation,” Canfield said. “The officers involved in that investigation did a great job and removing narcotics works to make that neighborhood safer.”

The owner of the home, Clark Bertrand, said he was working when he received several phone calls alerting him to the raid.

“I was at work in Belmont, I think I got the call about 1 o’clock,” he said. “Then I headed over here — a friend of mine up the street called me, and then the neighbor that lives here called me.”

A window on the side of the house was broken and a back door was busted open. Numerous tents and other items were strewn about the yard and two police officers worked to corral a dog around 3:45 p.m.

Canfield said investigators had reason to believe some of those charged Thursday were living in tents and in a shed in the yard.

“They had to bust a window and they busted a back door,” Bertrand said. “I only know what I was told and what other people saw.”

Bertrand said he’d been suspicious about the property after noticing increased foot traffic from people with whom he wasn’t familiar.

“The house has been being investigated for drugs for about six, seven months,” he said. “I post pictures on Facebook, asking who was in there, and people were saying it’s a drug house.”

Bertrand said he doesn’t live in the home and wasn’t aware of illegal activity there.

“The whole town has known for a while now, there’s a lot of people living there,” he said. “DCYF’s been involved, there was kids in there, there’s been a lot going on.”

Bertrand, who was sitting on a curb across the street from the property, said he was worried about two of his dogs, which he believed to be in the house at the time of the raid.

“I have two dogs in there, that’s all I’m concerned about — where my dogs are,” he said.

An email was sent to Laconia High School parents Thursday notifying them the school had declared a secure campus event.

“At 12:30, Laconia High School went into a secure campus due to a police response in the area but not at or related to Laconia High School,” the message from principal Lisa Hinds read. “Secure campus means that students and staff will remain in the building until the response is complete. There will be a follow up communication from me when the secure campus is lifted.” The order was lifted around 1:30 p.m., after police advised the incident was over.

Despite the order, "it was business as usual today," Hind said in an interview.