Family was 'terrorizing the neighborhood,' Daytona Beach police chief says

New bodycam video shows weapons hidden under mattress, 9,000 bullets

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A father, brother, and son were ruining the peace and safety of a tiny Daytona Beach neighborhood by running a drug-dealing ring out of their home, the Daytona Beach police chief said.

"If you ask me, he was terrorizing the neighborhood," Chief Craig Capri said of the owner of the Cedar Highlands Boulevard home, Lindberg Gaines.

Capri described Gaines as a violent, six-time convicted felon who's been arrested 27 times.

After a months-long surveillance operation in April, Capri and his investigators raided the home and arrested Gaines, his son, and brother.

Daytona Beach police exclusively showed News 6 body-camera footage on Wednesday that shows investigators searching the home after obtaining a warrant.

The footage shows an assault rifle and a shotgun -- with the serial numbers scratched off -- hidden under a mattress; two handguns on a shelf; nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition in bags and packets of crack cocaine. 

Capri said his tipsters described the home as a "drug-dealing compound."

"You have a convicted felon with six firearms that can be used not only against the police but what if he ripped somebody off and they want to come back here and retaliate and you have innocent kids out here and citizens?" Capri said.

Capri took News 6 to the home and the six-street, one-entrance community of Cedar Highlands.

 "Some of these houses have been here 50 years, if not more," said Capri, as he pointed to one of several manicured lawns. "You have good, decent working people who don't want to have to deal with drug dealers and gun violence. And there's kids who live out here."

Capri said his investigators watched Gaines' home and the homes of Gaines' relatives for months, collected tips from neighbors and intercepted drug deals that Capri said all linked back to Gaines' home.

"We're attacking the problem and going after it," he said. "If you come to our city and you want to set up shop and sell drugs and do gun violence, we're going to come at you with the full force of the Daytona Beach Police Department and federal, state and local partners and we're going to shut you down."

Gaines, who bonded out of jail after the April arrest, was actually home and confronted Capri in front of News 6 cameras.

"Let me tell you something, they didn't sell drugs out of my house," Gaines yelled. "That's the key to the whole thing."

Capri said all of the evidence collected from the home points to a drug-dealing operation.

He said he's hoping the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms pursues Gaines with federal charges because of the half-dozen guns confiscated.

Capri said neighbors feel safer and appreciate the raid. One neighbor told News 6 she can walk again at night without cars coming and going at all hours.

"Actually when we were doing the search warrant, the citizens were out here clapping, saying great job," said Capri. "People should not have to live in fear, live in a community plagued with guns and drug violence."


About the Author:

Erik von Ancken anchors and reports for News 6 and is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist in the prestigious and coveted "On-Camera Talent" categories for both anchoring and reporting.

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