4 arrested after narcotics search in Citrus County: CCSO

INVERNESS, Fla. - Four people were arrested in Citrus County on Friday after a narcotics search revealed fentanyl and methamphetamine, among other drugs, at an Inverness home.

According to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, their SWAT team and Tactical Impact Unit (TIU) executed a search warrant early on Friday stemming from an extensive narcotics investigation. 

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The TIU had received information that a man was selling illegal drugs in the county despite being released from prison in April 2023 for similar charges. Detectives eventually determined the man, Dennis Gene Himmel, 37, was dealing illegal drugs, mainly fentanyl. 

Dennis Himmel (middle), Mary Wallace (top right), Claire Beck (middle right), Jason Flynn (bottom right) (Photos courtesy: Citrus County Sheriff's Office)

Authorities then executed a search warrant at around 5:40 a.m. on Friday on South Pine Avenue in Inverness. They arrested Himmel; Mary Elizabeth Wallace, 39; Claire Marie Beck, 40; and Jason Scott Flynn, 46. 

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SWAT teams broke into the home after the residents refused to comply with requests to leave. They found Himmel locked inside a bedroom. They located fentanyl, methamphetamine, alprazolam, and items of paraphernalia indicating drug sales. 

Himmel faces multiple charges, including trafficking in fentanyl and sale of fentanyl within 1000 feet of a school. 

"Thanks to the efforts of the Tactical Impact Unit, and with the assistance of the Citrus County Sheriff's Office SWAT team, a habitual offender has been removed from our streets," said Sheriff Mike Prendergast. "Fentanyl is an extremely deadly synthetic opioid that kills over one-hundred thousand people every year nationwide. Drug dealers have no place in our community, especially habitual offenders like Himmel, who apparently will never learn. We will continue to fight illicit drug activity in our community at every given opportunity."