No Contest Plea Entered in Drug Case

A veteran Ventura County firefighter pleaded no contest in Superior Court on Thursday to selling methamphetamines and possessing explosive charges.

William Elliot Handy, 49, of Newbury Park was arrested in December 1994 for selling half an ounce of methamphetamine to a police informant at a grocery store parking lot on Reino Road in Newbury Park, authorities said.

Acting on the tip that Handy sold drugs from his home, deputies served a search warrant on the house and seized a miniature napalm bomb from under a bed in a steel ammunition box. Officials also said they seized a rocket-like device from his garage.

The county grand jury indicted Handy a month later. He remains free on $50,000 bail and later sought treatment for drug addiction.

Handy, who worked for the county Fire Department for more than 20 years, was suspended without pay after his arrest, fire officials said. He resigned from his post at Station No. 28 in Piru shortly thereafter.

Handy was a decorated firefighter. One of his exploits was the rescue of a 9-year-old Thousand Oaks boy from a swollen flood-control channel 22 years ago.

Handy, who faces a maximum of just over seven years in jail, is scheduled to be sentenced in March.