Curtis Arrest

At approximately 10:59 pm, I was dispatched to Cedar St for a report of a heroin overdose. I arrived a short time
later, and discovered that the victim was at the corner of Cedar Ave and Cedar St. After questioning the victim as to where he had procured the heroin, he stated that he had bought it from “Sean”.Officers heard the sound of dried leaves crunching and twigs snapping in the back yard. Officers lit the backyard with flashlights and announced ourselves as Somerville Police. The backyard of Cedar Ave is a heavily wooded area, approximately 100-150 feet deep. Officers ordered that anyone in the backyard show themselves, an no one complied.

Ofc. walked into the backyard, and discovered a male, later identified as Sean Curtis, crouched behind a tree. Curtis stated, “you found me, I give up.” When Curtis was questioned whether he had any needles or drugs, he stated, “no, you can go ahead and search me.” I performed a pat frisk of Curtis, and felt inside the right watch pocket of his jeans, what I believed to be a small bag of powder. I asked Curtis what he had in that pocket and he stated that he did not know. I removed the item from his pocket, which was a small glassine bag containing a brown powdery substance that I believed, based on my training and experience, to be heroin.

I asked Curtis again if he had any needles on him and he stated that he did not know. Curtis was placed into handcuffs . A hypodermic needle was discovered in Curtis’s left jacket pocket. Also discovered on Curtis was an envelope containing $900 cash and approximately $405 of loose cash in his pockets. While Ofc. was removing the loose cash from Curtis’ pocket, a folded $20 bill spilled a brown powdery substance out onto the trunk of a car parked in the driveway. I asked Curtis what the brown powder that had spilled out was, and he stated it was heroin. I asked Curtis what the glassine bag of brown powder was, and he stated that it was also heroin. I asked Curtis when the last time he had used heroin was, and he stated earlier in the day.