Jenelle Evans’ recent mysterious week-long hospital stay inspired a lot of online sleuthing over the past seven days, and one of the fruits of that labor is the above mug shot of Jenelle’s fiance Courtland Rogers from his arrest as part of an Oak Island, North Carolina drug raid in 2010. Dubbed “Operation Ocean Storm,” the raid was a 21-month operation that resulted in 36 indictments in addition to the confiscation of numerous firearms, ten vehicles, and an estimated $65,000 worth of drugs.
Here’s a video of the press conference held by the Oak Island Police Department on September 22, 2010 with all of the confiscated contraband on display:
The operation pivoted on 39-year-old officer Clint Williams who went undercover in Oak Island with the mission of inflitrating “Oak Island’s street-level drug world so authorities could strike at traffickers peddling illicit substances in this small, oceanfront community in Brunswick County.” Williams, a 17-year-veteran of the force, quickly fit in and began schmoozing it up at the local bars, restaurants, and a motorcycle shop. (I couldn’t help but think of an older Kieffer Delp, except with a badge.)
“With his experience, he was able to get in and become a part of the community and make friends and buy what he needed to buy,” Oak Island Police Chief Van Eddinger said about Williams at the press conference.
It’s still unclear what exactly Courtland Rogers was arrested for. The state of North Carolina online records indicate his last arrest was for larceny and possession of stolen goods in 2008, so I think we should assume the charges were dropped. When we spoke with Courtland about his criminal history, he made no mention of the 2010 arrest. “I haven’t gotten in trouble since the charges,” Courtland said of his 2008 arrest. “I’ve been out of trouble for 4 years.”
UPDATE – Kristen Lewis, sister of Taylor Lewis, the mother of Courtland’s one-year-old daughter, shared a series of tweets telling her side of what happened during Courtland’s 2010 arrest:
its says in the story that they dont know why he was in the bust but taylor was with him when the cops busted down his door taylor and him were in bed asleep they came through door and lifted up the courtland and found courtland and arrested for stealing a tv out his moms communty pool house used his moms key and they caught him on camera and he was in drug court so he was running from that also and then went to prison for 3 months and got out and taylor was pregnant then violated again with his gf alicia townsend doing drugs and they sent him to prison for a couple months he wasnt there to even see his daughter born then got out and didnt have nothing to do with the baby he has never really had nothing to do with her untill now when he is in the public eye n he said that he hadnt got in no more trouble since 2008 and that is a lie
So Courtland was allegedly arrested as part of a 21-month undercover drug sting for stealing a television from a pool house? I’m going to rewatch that video clip now and see if there’s a TV in it somewhere!
All I can say about all fo this is… Officer Clint Williams is a brave man! That Oak Island “street-level drug world” is no joke! From what I can tell it’s like Miami without the nice boats, cars, clothes, and houses. Who knows, maybe there’s a scripted drama in here somewhere. I know I would tune into Oak Island Vice! Cue the theme music…
