An armed SWAT team raided three Covington homes of a drug dealer last week but found no sign of the 30-year-old listed as the “most wanted criminal in Covington,” police said.

Damon Thomas, of 203 1/2 W. 26th Ave., had just fled his home when authorities burst through the doors donned in bulletproof vests and armed with semi-automatic weapons, Capt. Jack West, Covington Police spokesman, said. Two of his vehicles, a Ford Mustang and Ford Explorer, along with several ounces of crack cocaine, were seized.

Thomas, who still remains at large, is thought to be “walking around Covington selling drugs on foot,” West said. Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance in tracking down Thomas, who six months ago was freed from a seven-year prison sentence for selling drugs. He quickly fell into old habits, West said.

Thomas, a mid level dealer who supplies street dealers with crack cocaine, was poised to become a high level dealer selling ounces of crack cocaine to street dealers, West said.

He’s described as a white male, dark brown to black hair, 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 170 pounds. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call Covington Police at 892-8500.

Authorities were alerted to Thomas’s dealings two weeks ago when he was stopped for squealing his tires near downtown Covington, West said. He emerged from the Mustang with pockets bulging full of drugs, West said.

As Thomas was ordered to put his hands on the hood, he twisted around and fled, leading officers on a foot chase. He was never found.

Meanwhile, two passersby noticed the unoccupied Mustang as Thomas’ and began routing through its contents. A video camera in the police cruiser caught the action on tape.

The man and woman, whose names were not immediately available, soon fled, but they returned a short time later to realize they locked the Mustang’s doors. They can be seen kicking and screaming, angered about the locked door. On the other side of the car, however, the windows are clearly rolled down.

Thomas was recently seen in the Covington area around his drug houses on 26th Avenue, at 411 29th Ave. and a home at 27th Avenue, West said. His home on 26th Avenue boasts a statue painted with gang symbols, West said.

Thomas, who keeps alluding police on foot when spotted, “is fast. Fast as a gazelle,” West said.