SENECA MAN ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGES

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Seneca man Thursday on two drug warrants. 38-year old Ronnie Joe Patterson, Jr. of Curtis Drive was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center around 1:52 pm. Patterson, Jr’s arrest comes as a result of the execution of a high-risk search warrant that was executed at the Curtis Drive address. The search warrant was executed by agents of the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division as well as the SWAT Team, investigators from the Criminal Investigations Division, deputies from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Warrants Division and the Uniform Patrol Division and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Agents from the Narcotics Division obtained the search warrant as a result of drug buys which occurred at the Curtis Drive address in which Patterson, Jr. is accused of distributing methamphetamine on two occasions, once on March 8, and once on March 9. Both drug buys were made by an undercover operative working at the direction of the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office. Agents obtained the two arrests warrants against Patterson, Jr on March 14. Investigators and Narcotics Agents also obtained additional warrants against Patterson, Jr. as a result of the execution of the search warrant. Narcotics agents have charged Patterson, Jr. with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of marijuana for drugs seized from the Curtis Drive residence. Investigators from the Criminal Investigations Division have also charged Patterson, Jr. with one count each of second-degree burglary, grand larceny and malicious injury to personal property for breaking into a home at a separate address on Curtis Drive earlier this month and for stealing building materials and damaging the home by removing, among other items, interior walls, flooring and building materials.