House raided after 'heroin for sale' fliers posted

A north Portland house was raided by police after a fed-up neighbor sent officers a flier that said "Heroin for sale" and gave the home's address. Portland police officers and the bureau's Special Emergency Reaction Team served a search warrant on the home in the 3900 block of North Massachusetts on Tuesday. Officers who raided the home found a small meth lab, 19 grams of marijuana, 10 grams of heroin, 190 pills and $4,143 in cash, police say. They also seized a shotgun.

Police began looking into the home more than a year ago because of numerous neighborhood complaints. At one point, an unidentified neighbor gave police the "Heroin for sale" flier, which also had the address and names of the suspected drug dealers. In addition, there were a number of public safety meetings where neighbors complained about the drug problem in their neighborhood, and they asked for something to be done, police say.

During the raid, there were seven adults and one 15-year-old in the home. Six of the adults were arrested on various charges: 59-year-old Joseph Baron, 58-year-old Shari Baron, 42-year-old Todd Christie, 36-year-old Suzanne Johnson, 34-year-old Barry Frost and 34-year-old Steven Davis. After police searched the house, neighbors came out to thank the officers.

Sgt. John Birkinbine, who leads the Neighborhood Response Team for the area, says many of the officers were surprised at what happened after the suspects were arrested. "They were running out to our commander in the street and giving him hugs," Birkinbine says. He says the neighbors deserve most of the credit for getting the suspected drug house busted.