70-year-old woman arrested, found sitting on cocaine stash, police say

TAMPA -- Police arrested a 70-year-old woman in a drug bust after they say they found her sitting atop a stash of crack cocaine in her home.

Birdie Jean Glanton of 4507 35th St. faces charges of possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church, possession of cannabis, possession of cannabis with intent to sell, and delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church, records show.

Police arrested 11 other people in the bust, but it took place at Glanton's home.

On this sunny, beautiful Friday, all was quiet on Glanton's block, a street of small homes near Potter Elementary School in East Tampa. As a reporter walked up to Glanton's home, a beige wooden home with a screened-in front porch and a sandy yard, Glanton opened the door.

She wore a floral print blouse, her expression solemn.

"I ain't got nothing to say about this," she said as she walked quickly to a waiting sport utility vehicle.

Does she deal drugs?

"I don't deal, uh-uh," she said. "That was somebody else."

But later this afternoon, Glanton spoke more. She said the drugs were planted by drug-dealing boys who live around her and have always caused her problems. She went to the store for groceries and when she returned, she noticed two boys leave the back of her house, she said. She began cooking and minutes later the police burst in.

She said she doesn't do drugs, sell drugs or get money from drug sales. She's afraid she'll lose her subsidized housing because of the drug arrest and she was also upset that police ransacked her home while searching it.

Police say they're doing more interviews today to figure out who was dealing.

"The brunt of the drugs were found underneath the cushion she was sitting on," said Cpl. Jared Douds.

Glanton said the drugs were found in a crevice of the couch.

Police went to her home after they received complaints from the neighborhood. Inside her house, they found 25.2 grams of crack cocaine, 59 grams of marijuana, two handguns, one shotgun and $2,266 in cash, police say.

-- Abbie VanSickle and Justin George, Times staff writers