Burlington drug raid leads to seven arrests

A Burlington police raid on 2228 Lacy Street ended with seven arrests and a seizure of methamphetamine, fentanyl and marijuana after officers executed a search warrant at the home because they suspected drugs were being processed or sold there. The address sits in the city’s core, and the case moved far beyond a simple possession stop: police described it as a planned search tied to narcotics activity, not an unrelated encounter on the street.

Among those charged were Joseph Gordon Coffman, 66, who lives at the Lacy Street address and faces misdemeanor paraphernalia and maintaining-a-dwelling counts, and Robert Allen Hatchel, 50, of East Davis Street in Burlington, who faces felony fentanyl and Schedule II charges along with a school-zone allegation tied to Headstart Junction. The remaining defendants named in court records were Richard Durwin Gaddy Jr., Kelly Eugene Hoggard, Guillermo Reyes-Martinez, Christie Lynn Sharpe and Misty Dawn Eastwood. Their charges range from fentanyl and methamphetamine possession to paraphernalia, resisting an officer and obstructing justice, with several counts tied to the alleged sale or delivery of drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

The case grew out of a months-long drug investigation. Burlington police said they received information in April 2026 about suspected drug activity at 2228 Lacy Street before serving the warrant, which suggests investigators had been watching the property for some time rather than acting on a single tip or traffic stop. Taken together, the charges point to a location officers believed was being used as a small distribution point, not just a place where one person was using drugs. The raid also lands amid other recent Burlington drug cases, including a April 5 prosecution on South Flanner Street and a separate April 13 warrant on Ava Street that led to a firearm and controlled-substances seizure. Burlington police are asking anyone with additional information to call 336-229-3500 or submit an anonymous tip through Alamance County Crime Stoppers at 336-229-7100 or the P3 Tips app.