Man, 73, faces drug charges
BY STEVE METSCH smetsch@southtownstar.com June 12, 2012 11:52PM
Updated: July 14, 2012 6:15AM
His age may be surprising, but the reasons for his arrest are not.
After a four-week investigation, authorities on Friday arrested a 73-year-old man whom, they say, was selling drugs from his home in unincorporated Will County near Mokena.
Asked if it was odd for someone that old to be arrested on drug charges, Orland Park police Cmdr. John Keating said: “People dealing drugs do it for the money.”
Police acted on information from a source that led to the residence, he said.
Donald Edwards, of 11227 N. Woodland Circle, Frankfort Township, was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and intent to deliver after police armed with a search warrant visited the house Friday, Keating said.
Brandy Derkacy, 25, of the same address, was charged with possession of marijuana and intent to deliver, Keating said. It’s not known what the relationship is between the two, he said.
“The only information we have on that is that, at one time, Donald was her guardian,” Keating said.
A call to the home was not returned Tuesday. Derkacy is no longer in custody, according to the Will County sheriff’s website.
Edwards remains in custody at the Will County Jail, according to the website. His bond was set at $7,500, and he’s due in court July 2.
Police recovered “a quantity” of cocaine and marijuana, Keating said. He declined to say how much was recovered. Edwards and Derkacy surrendered without incident, Keating said.
“Any time you can shut down a source of illegal narcotics, we consider it a success. This was in a residential neighborhood where there are young families, on a street just off Wolf Road with homes on either side (of the house),” Keating said.
Dawn Auld, who has lived in the neighborhood for 23 years, did not know Edwards or Derkacy.
However, she found the arrests “extremely shocking.” She never noticed anything odd about the house, like cars stopping there late at night, she said.
“We were pretty shocked. It was crazy. This is a very nice neighborhood with a mix of young couples and older couples. We’ve never had this happen before and we hope it never happens again,” Auld said Tuesday.
