The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Fight leads to crack charges
Police allege man was ‘trying to get high’ on Christmas Eve
MIDDLETOWN >> The scent of marijuana wafting from a car parked near the scene of a Christmas Eve disturbance by McCarthy Park led to the arrest of two felons who were carrying cocaine, marijuana and other evidence of drug sales, police said.
On Dec. 24, police who were called to the scene of a fight in front of a Hotchkiss Street home found a victim standing across the street with an injury over his eye and “rambling incoherently,” according to a police report. Hotchkiss
intersects Church Street near the Wesleyan University campus.
Najawan K. Ward, 25, of Glover Place was one of three men sitting in a parked car whom police say have been involved in a number of complaints about disturbances, narcotics or other quality-oflife issues throughout Middletown.
The officer said he quickly determined none of the car’s occupants were involved in the fight. While speaking with Ward, who was in the driver’s seat, the detective said he smelled marijuana coming from inside the car. After conducting a pat-down, police say Ward was found with a plastic bag tied around two smaller bags containing 1.7 grams of cocaine in total.
“I was just trying to get high,” Ward allegedly told detectives. A search of the suspect reportedly turned up $440 in cash and a 3.1 gram bag of marijuana.
The front passenger, Tysnick D. Hoggard, 24, also of Glover Place, a 2.4-gram baggie of marijuana in his pocket, according to the report. The third individual wasn’t carrying contraband, authorities report.
A search allegedly turned up a box of baggies behind the driver’s seat, a baggie in the car’s truck with marijuana residue and several “rocks” of crack cocaine with a total weight of .01 grams on the floor between the passenger seat and front door. Ward claimed the two cellphones in the center console that were constantly ringing were his, the report details.
Authorities say the investigation determined that Hoggard had tried to hide the crack found on the car’s floor.
Ward was charged with possession of narcotics (second offense), possession with intent to sell, possession within a school zone and possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana. Ward is a felon with convictions for first-degree failure to appear and multiple narcotics possessions, judicial records show.
Hoggard was charged with possession of narcotics and possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana. Both were held on a $50,000 bond for a Dec. 27 appearance in court.
Hoggard has numerous cases pending in the state judicial system, including interfering, possessions of marijuana and with intent to sell, tampering with evidence, violation of discharge and sale of hallucinogenics/narcotics.
He is a felon with convictions for third-degree assault, second-degree threatening, violations of release, violation of a protective order, sale of hallucinogenics/narcotics, possession of narcotics (multiple times) and interfering/resisting arrest, judicial records indicate.