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Man accused of marijuana sales, having counterfeit clothing in Knightdale arrest
KNIGHTDALE- State agents and Knightdale police arrested a man Wednesday afternoon at an Old Knight Road barbershop and charged him with having $12,600 worth of counterfeit brand-name clothing and with selling marijuana.
Derrick Durand Merritt, 42, of 111 Plowlan Court in Knightdale, was arrested at the New Vision Barbershop at 861 Old Knight Road, records showed.
An arrest warrant sworn out by state Alcohol Law Enforcement agents charged Merritt with having counterfeit Polo shirts, Nike shoes and Ray-Ban and Luis Vuitton sunglasses “for sale and display.”
The merchandise would have a retail value of $12,670 if it were genuine, agents wrote.
Other warrants accused Merritt of having a misdemeanor quantity of a prescription pain drug when he was arrested and of possessing and selling marijuana on two dates in December, two in January, one in March and one in May.
Police Chief Lawrence Capps said local and state investigators had been following “a couple of angles” in investigating Merritt.
“We’re grateful to have their partnership,” Capps said of ALE agents, who are a division with the State Bureau of Investigation.
Merritt is listed by the state Board of Barber Examiners as having an inactive barber’s license.
Merritt’s bail was set at $100,000 after his arrest, and he was held in the Wake County Detention Center for a first court appearance on Thursday.
BY RON GALLAGHER / newsobserver.