Medical Call Leads to Major Drug Bust

Almost Half-A-Million Dollars in Drugs Recovered

On Friday, Deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Uniformed Patrol responded to a CPR-in progress call at the 8000 block of Ellie Plaza Place in Hixson. Upon arrival, deputies and medical personnel observed a white powdery substance on the unresponsive subject. Unfortunately, medical personnel advised the subject was deceased and a death investigation was initiated.

Due to the condition of the scene, Detectives with both the Criminal Investigations Unit and Narcotics and Special Investigation Unit responded to conduct the investigation. Detectives obtained a search warrant and located a large quantity of narcotics and US Currency.

Detectives seized $12,200 in money, two pounds of Fentanyl, three pounds of Crack Cocaine, seven grams of Cocaine, 47 grams of Ecstasy, more than half a pound of Marijuana. Officials said the drugs have a street value of $471,000.

The resident of the house, 38-year-old Donovan Shelton, was arrested and charged with Possession of Fentanyl for Resale, Possession of Ecstasy for Resale, Possession of Cocaine for Resale, Possession of Crack Cocaine for resale, Possession of Marijuana for Resale, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and four counts of Criminal Conspiracy.

The cause and manner of the death is being investigated by the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office and additional charges are pending the autopsy results.

The name of the deceased is being withheld until the notification of next of kin.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.