A convicted drug dealer with multiple Berkeley Police contacts has been charged with three felonies after a search of his motel room by police in April turned up a loaded revolver, cocaine packaged for sale, and other items associated with drug sales.
Police tried to stop and search the man in Berkeley in January, but he sped off in his BMW, hitting 70 mph, according to authorities. In the interest of safety, officers decided not to chase him at that time, but he remained on their radar.
Dounte Love, also known as Dejuan Jones, was arrested April 23 at the Bay View Motel, at 864 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland, during a warrant and probation search by Berkeley officers.
Police said in court papers that they found an unregistered, loaded .38-caliber revolver, two baggies of suspected cocaine, a digital scale and packaging for drugs in the motel room.
According to court papers, Love admitted that the gun and apparent drugs belonged to him.
Police detained the 33-year-old as he got into a vehicle outside the motel room. In the vehicle, they confiscated a cellphone. Police said a Berkeley detective answered a call to that phone and pretended to be Love. The caller asked to buy drugs, according to police.
During the search, police also arrested Jamie Rockwell, who told police the gun also belonged to her, according to authorities. Both parties were arrested and booked into Berkeley Jail. Rockwell does not appear to have been charged subsequently.
Though Berkeley Police have declined to comment on drug investigations in the past, they have noted that “it is not uncommon for narcotics investigations to take us into other jurisdictions in the region, as drug dealing operations don’t necessarily follow jurisdictional lines.”
Love, an Oakland resident, was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a controlled substance while armed, and possession for sale of a controlled substance, all of which are felonies. He also was charged with disobeying a court order to stay away from Rockwell, a misdemeanor.
He remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail with a bail of $165,000.
Love is set for a court hearing May 29 at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in downtown Oakland in connection with those charges.
Separately, he was charged with driving on a suspended license and evasion of a police officer related to the incident in Berkeley in January.
According to court papers, an officer tried to stop Love on Jan. 23 at San Pablo Avenue and Delaware Street in North Berkeley. The officer said he knew Love was on probation, subject to search, and that his license had been suspended.
“When I activated my lights and sirens, Love drove off at a high rate of speed (approximately 70mph) and made numerous traffic violations. The pursuit was terminated due to his willful and wanton disregard for public safety,” wrote Officer Jason Collier in a court document from January.
Love is scheduled to enter a plea in that case May 29.
Love was also arrested in September after being stopped by a Berkeley police officer in Oakland just south of the Berkeley border near Ashby and San Pablo avenues.
According to court papers, an officer who stopped Love at Carrison and Mabel streets Sept. 4 smelled marijuana in the vehicle and saw what appeared to be a bag of marijuana.
Police searched the vehicle and recovered $140 in cash, a digital scale, and a cellphone containing a text message from someone trying to buy marijuana, according to court papers. Police also said they found .51 grams of suspected crack cocaine in the vehicle’s center console.
The district attorney’s office charged Love in connection with that incident with possession of marijuana for sale and cocaine base. No further information was available about that incident.
According to the Alameda County district attorney’s office, Love has three prior convictions: for possession for sale of cocaine base in 2005; and sale, transportation or offering to sell a controlled substance in 1998 and 1999. He was sentenced to prison in the earlier convictions, and probation for the 2005 case.
Read past Berkeleyside coverage related to drugs in and around Berkeley.
Related:
Berkeley police arrest alleged drug dealer with gun (04.17.14)
Man tied to Berkeley drug sales charged with 5 felonies (04.03.14)
Berkeley man with violent past chased, arrested, charged (02.26.14)
3 arrested with gun, drugs at Berkeley Marina (02.21.14)
Berkeley police arrest 3 with heroin, loaded assault rifle (01.16.14)
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