Police recovered over $100,000 worth of cocaine after overhearing a Grayslake man, who had been arrested, make a call to his girlfriend from the Waukegan police station telling her to hide his drugs that were in his home.
The Waukegan Police Department detectives were on patrol around 4 p.m. on April 27 traveling eastbound on Belvidere Road in Waukegan heading towards Park City.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon said they observed a blue Volvo with illegal tint.
Detectives knew the blue Volvo belonged to Walter Hayes III, 45, of Grayslake, and that he had been previously cited for illegal tint on the vehicle.
Detectives conducted a traffic stop on the Volvo and Hayes was identified as the driver, Cannon said.
Hayes was ordered out of the vehicle and detectives searched Hayes. They found almost 18 grams of a rocklike substance that field-tested positive for cocaine in his pocket along with $910 in cash, Cannon said.
Hayes was transported to the Waukegan Police Department for booking and interviews.
Hayes requested to make a phone call and he was permitted to use a Waukegan Police Department phone, which was in an audio and video-recorded room.
Detectives overheard Hayes speaking to someone and he told them to “move stuff out of the house,” Cannon said.
Detectives sent unmarked police cars to his residence in Grayslake where they surveilled the home.
Cannon said the garage door opened and his girlfriend was observed driving a Range Rover Valar out of the driveway.
Police made contact with her and she immediately told them, “Everything is in the trunk.”
A backpack was in the trunk that contained four separate, vacuum-sealed clear baggies, which had a total weight of more than 2.2 pounds, Cannon said.
The contents from each of the four bags field-tested positive for cocaine. The amount of drugs is estimated to be worth over $100,000, prosecutors said.
Cannon said detectives located plastic packaging, a money counter, kitchen cookware with a white residue and a safe in the trunk.
Hayes’ girlfriend told detectives that her boyfriend instructed her to grab the backpack and what to do with it but she did not know the contents of the backpack.
Hayes admitted to ownership of the drugs and told the officers that his girlfriend “doesn’t know what” he does, Cannon said.
Hayes had a conversation with detectives about pricing for the drugs but did not make direct admissions of selling drugs.
Hayes was charged with manufacturing or delivery of 900+ grams of cocaine, manufacturing or delivery of 15-100 grams of cocaine, possession of 900+ grams of cocaine and possession of 15-100 grams of cocaine.
“However, in the officers’ training and experience, the enormous quantity of drugs combined with the money, money counter, safe, and cookware were indicative of narcotics sales. This Defendant possessed a massive amount of cocaine with the intent to distribute it to others in the Lake County community and beyond,” Cannon said.
“This Defendant made efforts to conceal the drugs that he had at his residence while in booking at the Waukegan Police Department,” she said.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Hayes pending trial, arguing he poses a danger to the community, and Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition following a detention hearing.
Hayes remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on Monday.