Upper Darby drug dealer threatens woman after she demands refund, police say

One woman called police after she said she was threatened by an Upper Darby man on Nov. 9. The woman said the man was at her residence as she was requesting a refund after a drug sale.

According to police, the Upper Darby Police Department was dispatched to the 7200 block of Alderbrook Road around 8:39 a.m. on Nov. 9 for reports of “a domestic regarding threats.” However, the argument was not a typical “domestic” as the two involved did not live with nor were involved with one another. Unless, of course, you count the fact the man was her dealer.

The woman, whose name is being withheld, said the man, known to her only as “Man Man” had reported to her home and “threatened to harm her after she confronted him about wanting her money back after a drug sale,” said the affidavit of probable cause issued by Upper Darby Police. Police said that the woman stated that “these actions have put her in fear for her life.”

Dinell Delee, 44, of the 7000 block of Greenwood Avenue in Upper Darby, reportedly made hand gestures at the woman “mimicking slitting his throat and using his finger as a gun, pointing it at her, and moving his arms in a shooting motion,” said police. The woman provided a description of Delee and two phone numbers to reach him to the police, said the affidavit.

Police later conducted a pedestrian stop of a male matching the provided description. While the woman confirmed that the scooter and items on his person were Delee’s, he denied ownership, police said. During a search of a green, cross-body bag in an attempt to “ascertain ownership,” police said they discovered a “clear gallon Ziploc bag containing a green vegetable matter suspected to be marijuana” as well as a turquoise Taurus 9mm firearm.

Police said that inside the bag they also found packages containing plastic wraps, along with cigarette papers. When they tried the cell phone number provided by the woman, police said that a telephone inside the bag began to ring.

The scooter, bag, and its contents were seized, as the woman filled out a voluntary statement form, police said. A search upon arrest resulted in the discovery of 19 small, transparent black containers all containing a hard, white substance suspected to be cocaine in a purple vial, two small transparent black containers containing a white, powdery substance (also suspected to be cocaine) carried loosely in Delee’s pants pocket, said police. 

Also on his person was a “large blunt cigar wrapped in white rolling papers, one black and green ziploc bag suspected to contain marijuana, and one knotted, clear plastic bag containing a powdery white substance suspected to be cocaine, as well as $813 in cash, police wrote in the affidavit. All substances were tested at police headquarters and found to positively be identified as both cocaine and marijuana.

Police said that Delee did not have a permit to carry the gun, and there was no record of it in the NCIC. Police added that, due to prior criminal convictions, Delee is prohibited from legally possessing a firearm.

Delee is facing felony charges including firearms not to be carried without a license, possession of a prohibited firearm, and two charges of possession with intent to manufacture or deliver controlled substances, in addition to misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another and two counts of possession. 

Delee was taken into custody on Nov. 9 to be held in county jail. He was released later the same day on a $7,500 cash bail (10 percent of $75,000) posted by himself. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 30 at 9 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Christopher R. Mattox.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.