TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Daryl Terrace, a small side street north of downtown Titusville, was a safe and peaceful place for children to play outside. That changed about two years ago when traffic began to flood the street at all hours of the day and night.
Glenn and Alita Gunter moved into their Daryl Terrace corner home to retire two years ago, right around the time the normally quiet street turned into a dangerous racetrack.
"You'd catch yourself looking out the window all the time," Alita Gunter said. "checking things out, see what's going on. You'd hear a pop and it scares you."
Neighbors said one house on the block was attracting all the traffic, like a drive-through restaurant.
"They'd pull in, be there for two minutes, sometimes didn't even get out of the car and leave," Glenn Gunter said.
So neighbors who saw something decided to say something. They called Titusville police, who did something.
Titusville PD's S.I.S. (Special Investigations Section) started an around-the-clock surveillance operation on the home.
Detective Andy Rodriguez, who led the operation, said it was clear that the person living at the home was running a large-scale drug operation.
"It was pretty much holding the neighborhood hostage," Rodriguez said. "I've never seen anything like this in these types of neighborhoods. Very bold."
Rodriguez said he obtained a search warrant and raided the house June 21.
He arrested Jeremy Lee Sarver and charged him with felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell and felony possession of a controlled substance.
Rodriguez said he confiscated 32 guns from Sarver, including handguns, shotguns, an assault-style rifle and a grenade launcher attachment.
"Pretty much protection for his large operation," Rodriguez said. "They were spread out, readily accessible, each firearm was loaded. We were concerned if a potential shooting could have happened there's children in the neighborhood, people cutting their lawns."
Rodriguez also confiscated $6,000 in cash and big bags full of marijuana weighing eight pounds.
"This was a very big catch," Rodriguez said. "Any day that we can recover 32 firearms that can potentially end up in the streets of Titusville is a good day."
The Gunters said their street, Daryl Terrace, is now safe and peaceful once again.
"I'm just happy it's over with," Glenn Gunter said.
Rodriguez said Sarver is out on bond awaiting trial. He faces up to 10 years in prison and possibly more prison time if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives takes over the case.
"We were able to make an impact on the community and get crime results," Rodriguez said.