More details revealed about SWAT team raid of Lenny's Pizza owner's upscale 'drug house'
The owner of Lenny's Pizza tried to flee out the back door of his home when the Flagler County Sheriff's Office SWAT team rolled up to his upscale home on Friday morning before he retreated back inside, according to a charging affidavit.
Once inside, law enforcement found guns and drugs, including some under a couch cushion, and marijuana growing gear in a storage room.
Lenny Fries Jr., the owner of Lenny's New York Pizza and Lenny's New York Pizza II in Volusia County, was the target of the search. He was arrested Friday morning on drug trafficking and other charges after the Flagler County Sheriff's Office SWAT team, the FBI, and other law enforcement agencies raided his home.
Fries, 49, of Ormond Beach, made his first appearance on Saturday morning before Flagler County Judge D. Melissa Distler.
Distler and Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark noted that Fries had been charged with a crime that didn't exist. They apparently were referring to armed trafficking of cocaine because Clark at one point said that perhaps it meant to say armed trafficking. Distler and Clark agreed to find the charge as "insufficient."
Distler set bond at $145,500 on the other charges Fries faces.
Clark also asked that the judge order Fries to turn in his passport, because he had a "cruise scheduled within the next three weeks that would take him out of the country."
Fries declined representation by the Public Defender's Office and said he had his own attorney but he apparently did not provide a name although he said "I have one set up."
Fries was charged with trafficking of cocaine, 28-grams to 150 grams; possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of cathinones with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of hashish with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; resisting arrest without violence; and two counts of manufacture or delivery of narcotics cultivation paraphernalia.
About 6 a.m. Friday, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office SWAT team rolled up to Fries' home on Winchester Road in Ormond Beach and announced its presence, according to a charging affidavit.
The affidavit states the SWAT team 'addressed' several subjects at the home.
Fries attempted to flee out the rear door as the SWAT team surrounded the residence while it made its announcement, the affidavit stated. Fries retreated inside the house.
Fries was apprehended and became cooperative, the affidavit stated.
Here are items the Flagler County Sheriff's Office found inside the home, according to a charging affidavit.
About 700 grams of marijuana
76.6 grams of cocaine (trafficking)
415 grams of hashish (gummies combined with THC wax weights)
2.8 grams of methamphetamine
8.8 grams of synthetic cathinones
Narcotics press machine with cocaine residue
A large bag of cocaine and a Sig Sauer handgun were found on top of an ottoman
Multiple bags of cocaine along with a Smith and Wesson handgun were found under a couch cushion.
Deputies also located vacuum sealed bags, cash, scales, packaging materials and a narcotics press machine, which were described as instrumentalities for narcotics sales, according to the affidavit.
Deputies also found a marijuana cultivation setup in a storage room containing UV grow lights, exhaust fans, a separator and miscellaneous cultivation chemicals, the affidavit stated.
Marijuana seeds were found in the living room.
Additional items have been submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing, the Sheriff's Office stated.
Fries house at 17 Winchester Road in the Eagle Rock Range subdivision in unincorporated Flagler County is not the usual home with Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly is planting his signature "drug house closed" signs.
The house has a heated area of 3,895 square feet and a total area of 5,919 square feet with four bedrooms and 2.5 baths, according to the Flagler County Property Appraiser's Office website. The property has a "just value" of $994,391, according to records.
Fries also owns a home on La Mancha Drive in Palm Coast, according to property records.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Lenny's Pizza owner arrested, affidavit reveals new details
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