On October 7, 2018 at about 10:10 PM, Officer Dylan Lambert and I (Officer Mark Nevin) were driving east on Broadway in front of the Frozen Hoagie store near the Powderhouse Rotary when we came upon a car that was stopped in the middle of the eastbound lane. We saw a man standing next to driver’s side door talking with the car’s operator, and then the car suddenly drove away. The man who was speaking with the car’s driver walked toward our cruiser while waving his arms. He told us that the driver of the car had been sleeping in his car and he was concerned for the driver’s well-being. As we accelerated to catchup to the car another man waved at us and pointed at the same car. I activated the cruiser’s emergency lights, stopped the car at the corner of Broadway and Bay State Avenue, and notified Dispatch of the car stop. Officers Chris Collette (West 7) and Paul Anderson (West 5) responded to assist with the car stop.

Officer D. Lambert approached the passenger’s side while I approached the driver’s window and I told the driver to roll down the window. When he did, I was hit by a very strong smell of burnt marijuana and immediately noticed the driver’s eyes were very bloodshot and droopy. I asked the driver for his driver’s license and if he was okay. He stated that he fell asleep due to narcolepsy, which I found alarming. He also stated that his condition is being managed by his doctor. The driver explained that his eyes were red due to allergies and his slow and nasally speech was the result of a sinus infection. During our brief conversation, I found his speech and response time to my questions was slow. He dropped his wallet and some of its contents when locating his ID, which showed the driver to be Mr. Spencer Camara-Harrison.

I explained to Mr. Camara-Harrison that I believed he is under the influence of drugs and would like him to exit the car and take a roadside assessment. Mr. Camara-Harrison agreed to take the roadside assessment. Mr. Camara-Harrison’s movements were very slow as he exited the car. I observed several loose $20 bills on his lap and floor of the driver’s area.

The area in which the tests were conducted was well lit and sidewalk was smooth and clear of debris, although it was wet from recent rain. Officer D. Lambert turned off the front blue lights of the cruiser before the testing began. Mr. Camara-Harrison stated that he suffers from fibromyalgia and sciatica, but that these maladies would not interfere with his ability to take the tests. Further, he said that he did not wear glasses or contact lenses.

The first test I conducted was the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. I instructed Mr. Camara-Harrison to stand with his feet together and to keep his hands by his side. He had to be reminded several times to remain in that position. He continuously put his hands in his pants pockets and moved his feet out of alignment. He did not exhibit any observable Nystagmus.

The next test I administered was the one leg stand. Mr. Camara-Harrison had difficulty maintaining his position during this test as well. He attempted the test four times. Each time he raised his leg he began to fall backwards after a few seconds  and failed to count aloud.

Officer Chris Fusco (drug recognition expert) arrived on-scene and administered two additional tests. The first test was the modified Romberg balance test. During this test, his closed eyes exhibited significant fluttering and estimated the passage of 30 seconds to be 54 seconds.

The second test Officer Fusco administered was the finger to nose test, in which he asked Mr. Camara-Harrison to touch his finger to his nose in random patterns. Mr. Camara-Harrison frequently missed touching his nose and either did not or was slow in returning his hand to his side. Officer Fusco’s findings can be read in his supplemental report.

Mr. Camara-Harrison was taken into custody for operating under the influence of drugs. He was read his Miranda rights by Officer Anderson and Mr. Camara-Harrison said he understood his rights. Despite this, he voluntarily stated that XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and that he had been using his brother’s car on and off during this period. Officer Fusco was instrumental in getting XXXXXXXXXXXX and he stated that Mr. Camara-Harrison’s brother had only XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Mr. Camara-Harrison also notified us that he is currently on probation (which was verified by documents nearby the marijuana). The probation documents showed that Mr. Camara-Harrison is required to submit a urine sample every two weeks. Curiously, a bottle of synthetic urine was found during the inventory search of the car.

The car Mr. Camara-Harrison was driving was parked in a bus stop. Officers Chris Collette and Anderson began an inventory search of the vehicle, post incident to arrest. Officer Chris Collette discovered a Market Basket bag on the rear passenger side seat containing three bags of various quantities of marijuana. The marijuana stash was found in close proximity to recent court papers and older mail addressed to Mr. Spencer Camara-Harrison.

I conducted a personal inventory search of Mr. Camara-Harrison and found about five pills of undetermined origin and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia. These items will be turned into the property room for destruction.

I requested permission to have the car towed to the police headquarters garage for a more thorough search.  The car was subsequently towed by Pat’s Towing to the police department garage. Officer Dylan Lambert and I followed the tow truck to the garage where we conducted a thorough search of the car. In addition to the marijuana, we found 54 Ziploc bags underneath the marijuana bags and two scales (one of which had what appeared to be fresh marijuana particles on it).

One scale was located nearby the bag containing the three bags of marijuana and the other scale was located in the trunk. The instructions for the scale with marijuana particles on it were located in the driver’s side door.

Mr. Camara-Harrison consented to an evaluation by a certified drug recognition expert. Officer Devin Scheider from the Somerville Police Department conducted a post-Miranda drug evaluation and concluded Mr. Camara-Harrison was under the influence of a central nervous system depressant. The details of his assessment are contained in his supplemental report. A urine sample was collected during the assessment and submitted to the property room for testing.

Mr. Camara-Harrison was transported to the station by Officer Soares in the prisoner transport wagon and was booked by Sgt. Marino.

Mr. Camara-Harrison was charged with the following:

– Operating under the influence of drugs

– Negligent operation of a motor vehicle

– Drug possession with the intention to distribute class D drugs

Respectfully submitted by,

Officer Mark Nevin #300

Somerville Police Department