A pair who appeared to be sleeping in East Arlington in a van with Arizona plates were charged late on Saturday, May 28, with receiving a stolen motor vehicle, drug possession and distribution.
Brett H. Carter, 26, of Pembroke, N.H., and Danielle Rathe, 28, address redacted, face charges after providing false names and police discovering their stolen van held marijuana, heroin and counterfeit money.
Police responded about 11:16 p.m. to a Rawson Road address for a well-being check of two parties who appeared to be sleeping in in a U-Haul van.
At first, they identified themselves as Molly Witham and Brandon Finn and said they wanted to get to Boston and had no intention of finding a place to stay. Carter said he thought if he could find a side street off Mass. Ave. in Boston that they wouldn't be bothered.
Police ran the Arizona plate through dispatch, and the van came back as stolen. Carter and Rathe were placed into handcuffs (double locked) and searched for weapons.
Carter said his aunt leased the vehicle, and he was using it. Carter and Rathe insisted that they paid to rent the vehicle and did not steal it.
Among the items police found in the vehicle were many small plastic bags typically used for sale of narcotics, a narcotics spoon, a backpack containing 1,100.2 grams (2.4 Lbs) of marijuana, a tube filled with marijuana weighing 9.1 grams and a black leather bag containing $4,934. The police report says that it "appears to be counterfeit money."
On the floor of the cargo van was a white powderlike substance that an officer believed to be heroin, which weighed in at 2.7 grams. The report says: "Lastly, littered throughout the van were hypodermic needles that are consistent with the use of heroin."
Stephen's towed the van to Arlington police headquarters to be impounded for further investigation.
Carter and Rathe were transported to the station by officers and provided their real identities. Both parties had active warrants.
In a separate case, Colm M. Armstrong, 24, of Lexington, was charged Thursday, May 26, with possessing burglary tools, breaking-and-entering and drug possession after police responded to a report of a break-in of a motor vehicle in progress at 7:16 p.m.
Before three officers responded to a Churchill Avenue address. A witness told police that he saw a white male, who was wearing blue jeans and a red shirt, carrying a backpack, and a small trash bag, break into his neighbor's parked vehicle.
The police report said the neighbor and vehicle owner followed the then-unknown male down Gloucester Street in his vehicle. Dispatch was able to provide a current location of the suspect in the area of Churchill Avenue, walking northbound toward Mass. Ave. A short time later, police located the suspect near Churchill and Wildwood.
The owner said he did an inventory of his vehicle and believed a pocket knife, pepper spray, loose change and micro-fiber towels were missing from his vehicle. Because Armstrong could have a pocket knife, officers placed him in hand cuffs (double locked).
During their search, police found a black Gerber pocket knife, a red-and-gray Craftsman hammer, an orange bottle containing various pills for a person in Lexington and loose change. Asked about the knife, police said, Armstrong told officers that a friend had given it to him along with the medication.
He said the hammer was used to open boxes while working at Ace Hardware and added that it was also was used for protection if needed. The car owner told police the knife was the one missing from the console.
During booking, Armstrong said he was unemployed, police said.
This news announcement was published Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
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