On August 18, 2017, I Officer Mark McLaughlin was in full uniform while assigned to marked cruiser East-1, with Officer Devin Schneider as my partner, during the evening shift. The following report is a summary of the events that I witnessed as they pertain to incident #17050641.
At approximately 5:39pm, Officer Schneider and I responded to 125 Jaques Street for a report of a dispute. The call was initiated by Somerville Housing Police by Officer Peter Granitsas, who relayed via radio that he was interacting with a disorderly person. Upon arriving, I met with Officer Granitsas who I learned the following information:
Officer Granitsas had encountered a Chevy s10 pickup truck which was parked in the through way of the parking lot, preventing vehicles from parking in the assigned spots. 125 Jaques Street is a Somerville Housing complex (private property) managed by the Somerville Housing Authority. The Chevy did not have a parking permit to park in a Somerville Housing complex, which is required, and there are posted signs to this effect. Officer Granitsas observed a male party standing outside the Chevy who claimed ownership of the vehicle. Officer Granitsas told the operator to move his vehicle, to which the operator refused. The operator became argumentative and Officer Granitsas asked for his ID. The operator was identified by his MA, state identification as Paul Fidler. A check of the warrant management system via radio revealed that Mr. Fidler had an active warrant for his arrest (Lawrence District court docket number 1618cr003625). Officer Granitsas placed Mr. Fidler into handcuffs in a manner consistent with his training, and I doubled locked the handcuffs.
An inventory of Mr. Fidler’s truck was conducted by Officer Joe Teves (East-4) and me to facilitate a tow of the vehicle. During the inventory, in the center console of the vehicle, officers discovered a pill bottle with Mr. Fiddlers name on it. When I shook the bottle to see how many pills there were inside, the bottle didn’t make the rattling sound consistent with pills in a bottle. I picked up the bottle to examine it, and I observed through the orange, opaque plastic; a small glassine twisted bag of brown powdery substance. I know based upon my training plus the training and experience of the other officers present: that the substance in the bag was most likely heroin. Further inventory of the vehicle revealed several hypodermic needles and a spoon with char marks on the base. I know based off my training and the training and experience of the other officers on scene that needles and spoons with char marks are typically used with the intravenous injection of illegal narcotics.
Officer Granitsas read Mr. Fidler his rights pursuant to Miranda from a pre-printed card. Mr. Fidler acknowledged that he understood his rights. The Board Of Probation checks of Mr. Fidler revealed that he had 73 adult arraignments, indicating to me that he was familiar the process of Miranda rights. Mr. Fidler did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. When Mr. Fiddler was asked about the heroin inside the prescription bottle that has his name on it, he stated: “oh shit, she left it there.”
Mr. Fidler was transported to the police station in prisoner transport unit 200, operated by Officer Daniel Haley. At the station he was booked in the usual manner by commanding Officer Lt. William Rymill. Upon opening the pill bottle to retrieve the heroin, I removed 4 white oval pills with a wad of tissue. Officer Schneider immediately recognized the pills to be Gabapentin. The prescription bottle was for Buprenorphin- Naloxone, which is described on the bottle as a round orange pill. There was also an orange pill that was believed to be the naloxone. Officer Schneider and I spoke with Mr. Fiddler while he was in his cell and asked if he had a prescription with him for the pills. He told us he did not have the prescription with him. The bag of heroin was weighed by Detective Jason Costa with a weight of 0.7 grams. A query of Mr. Fiddler’s BOP revealed that he has prior convictions for Possession of a Class A Substance. The Chevy was towed by Pat’s towing.
I will be charging Paul Fidler with the following violations of MA general law:
-ch. 94c/S.34 Possession of a Class A Substance, Subsequent Offense
-ch.94c/S.34 Possession of a Class E Substance
-ch.266/S. 121A Motor Vehicle Trespass
The pills in the pill bottle, the glassine bag of heroin, and the spoon were entered into evidence per the usual manner. Digital photograph of the evidence and the pill bottle AS IT WAS DISCOVERED will be attached to this report.
Respectfully submitted,
Officer Mark McLaughlin
Badge #343
Somerville Police Department