Arrest warrants obtained, investigators with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office drug unit were in search of a man who made controlled buys of marijuana in Belhaven — controlled buys that took place within 1,000 feet of the Boys and Girls Club on Pantego Street in Belhaven, according to a press release from the drug unit.

“Obviously it’s important to us to prevent a drug dealer from setting up anywhere near a park, a school, a day care, anywhere where children are going to be,” said a spokesman for the drug unit.

Members of the drug unit spotted Nathaniel James Toppins, 33, of Cedar Village, Belhaven, on Lee Street and watched him run into a nearby residence. They went after him, said the spokesman.

“If we have felony arrest warrants and see someone running into a house, we can go after them,” he explained.

He said investigators found Toppins hiding under a sheet on a bed in the residence.

Toppins was arrested and charged with two counts of manufacture/sell/deliver/possess a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a daycare/playground. At the time of his arrest, Toppins was out on bond from an arrest by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol in January, when he was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon. Toppins was confined in the Beaufort County Detention Center under a $10,000 secured bond for his most recent charges filed by the sheriff’s office.