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, according to the affidavit. 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.
Lenny’s Pizza owner makes first appearance
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.
SWAT rolls up to Lenny’s Pizza owner’s home
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.
Additional items have been submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing, the Sheriff’s Office stated.
Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly: Fries portrayed himself police supporter
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in an interview on Saturday that Fries was on the second floor and saw the SWAT team arrive.
He said deputies were not sure if he was trying to flee or throw drugs in a swimming pool or both. And they were not sure what he would do.
“We weren’t sure that he was going to come out,” Staly said. “Fortunately, he made the right decision and he came out the front door with his hands up.”
He said the Sheriff’s Office was using its Bearcat armored vehicle which has a loud public address system that was heard throughout the areas as they ordered Fries to come out with his hands up.
“Fortunately he made the right choice and surrendered,” Staly said
Staly said Fries must have texted or called an attorney because his lawyer showed up while deputies were at the scene. The attorney said law enforcement would not be talking to Fries.
Staly said the investigation began after a tip, and the Sheriff’s Office began an undercover investigation in partnership with the FBI.
“I can say we bought a significant quantity of cocaine at his house,” Staly said.
He said in many cases, Fries was storing the drugs in his car and he would open the truck or car and get the drugs out.
He said the Sheriff’s Office seized three cars, including a 2023 Cadillac Escalade but he did not recall what the other two cars were.
Staly said it was ironic that one of the cars had a Florida tag supporting the Police Athletic League and another had a PBA license plate supporting law enforcement.
The flagpole at Fries’ house was flying the American flag with the thin blue line, indicating support for law enforcement.
“So he was trying to portray himself as a big supporter of law enforcement at the same time he was selling cocaine and methamphetamine,” Staly said.
Staly, by the way, has never eaten at a Lenny’s Pizza.
He said the gated community where Fries’ home was located is a relatively quiet and secluded area of estate homes where some homes keep horses. The community has been there for three or four decades.
An upscale alleged ‘drug house’
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: More details revealed about SWAT team raid of Lenny’s Pizza owner’s upscale ‘drug house’
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
