Police arrest 3, seize heroin-fentanyl mix and money in multiagency drug bust

Cincinnati police officers were just expecting to serve a search warrant on Wednesday in Pleasant Ridge, but they ended up arresting three people and seizing 21 pounds of a heroin and fentanyl mix and $100,000 in cash. Anthony Penny, 29, and two unidentified individuals were arrested in the investigation through the Cincinnati Police Department District Four Violent Crimes Squad, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Ohio State Patrol and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Police said they've never had a suspect fight the way Penny did: It took seven agents several hours to subdue him once they first tried to arrest him at a Colerain Township home. He fled to College Hill, caught a cab and ended up at a home on Lawndale Avenue back in Pleasant Ridge. Agents said Penny kept asking officers to kill him as they tried to arrest him. "Our officers were spit on; our officers were bit. They were punched. They were kicked and this was all while he was in handcuffs," said Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Tim Reagan. "It took seven of us to keep him subdued until fire/rescue could transport him to (the University of Cincinnati Medical Center) for his safety. Trying to get him into the ambulance was a handful. Getting him to the hospital was a handful and once at UC, the doctors, the nurses and the staff that work security there were spit on, were bit. This man fought for hours because he knew what we had seized." Penny appeared in federal court on Wednesday to face charges of possession with intent to distribute heroin and assault on a federal law enforcement officer. Police said Penny had been supplying local drug dealers, charging about $120 per gram on the potent drug mixture. The heroin seized is valued at about $1 million. FBI officials said the investigation began several months ago and made quick developments because of Cincinnati Police officers' work on the case.