NORTH PORT, Fla. -- A home in North Port was raided by police and four people inside were arrested on drug charges. Tens of thousands of dollars are found.
It turns out some of you may have seen them out in the community and you may have even helped them
“This is North Port Police. We are issuing a search warrant.” Cortney Azzolina shot a video a few homes away from where she lives of North Port police. She thought her neighbors were getting raided by SWAT, but instead, all four homes were getting busted.
Officers issued a warrant on a home off Kenwood Drive and Goings Lane after an undercover operation lasting several months. Inside, officers found 154 bags of spice, or synthetic marijuana. They also found weapons and more than $65K dollars in cash.
Outside are several cars including this Jaguar.
“That’s a con!” says Cortney.
But it turns out Cortney and another neighbor have seen two of the four people arrested, Matthew Shulz and Chrystena Surprenant-- panhandling.
“I usually see them up and down US 41 and they’d always be at the Walmart, and they’d always be down there begging, trying to get stuff off of people,” says Cortney.
Eric Johnson lives next door and he’s seen them too. He says, “I’d be upset if I’d given the $5 for a sandwich.”
The two have also been seen outside of McDonald's. Both neighbors say they’re out panhandling nearly every day.
“That’s being disingenuous, greedy,” says Cortney. She adds, “Then it makes you skeptical about people who do need help, that’s unfortunate.”
North Port police say there are better ways to help. “If you really want to help people get the help they need, give money to the organizations that handle it appropriately,” says Josh Taylor, PIO with the North Port Police Department.
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