Pacoima Man Accused of Selling Cocaine

A 26-year-old Pacoima resident who was arrested early this year in the first use of the police battering ram against alleged “rock houses” was taken into custody Wednesday after selling cocaine to an undercover officer, authorities said.

Antonio Johnson was arrested at his Van Nuys Boulevard apartment at 10:30 a.m. after he sold the officer one gram of cocaine, Sgt. Michael Cilmer said. Cilmer said Johnson had also sold cocaine recently to another undercover officer.

Rock houses are homes in which cocaine in solid form is sold.

Tommy Finley, 26, who lives in the same building as Johnson, was also arrested after police searched his residence, Cilmer said. Police said they found 16.2 grams of cocaine, firearms and $500 in cash. Finley was booked on suspicion of selling cocaine.

Johnson was arrested last February when police used the battering ram to break into a suspected rock house in the 13000 block of Louvre Street in Pacoima. In that raid, police confiscated only about one-tenth of a gram of cocaine, and Johnson was released when the district attorney’s office declined to prosecute, Cilmer said.