Man accused of driving with drugs, unbelted toddler

WOONSOCKET – A repeat offender who is on bail and probation for past drug offenses is looking at jail time after police caught him driving with Ecstasy in his pocket and an improperly restrained two-year-old in the back seat.

Alvin Burchel Chang, 40, of 35 Kindergarten St., is held without bail as a violator after police arrested him on charges of possession of a controlled substance and third-offense driving on a suspended license on Sunday.

Police said they stopped Chang on High Street about noon because they saw a passenger in the back seat – and adult – who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

When they stopped the vehicle, police said they also noticed a two-year-old who wasn’t in a child restraint seat.

Police performed a routine search of Chang because he was wanted on a Sixth District Court bench warrant for failure to appear for payment review in connection with a prior conviction on an unrelated charge.

During the search, the police noticed what they called “a non-anatomical bulge” in Chang’s pants that turned out to be a glassine bag of white powder with blue and pink flecks. Officers suspected the substance was MDMA, a synthetic, euphoria-inducing drug often described as a hallucinogenic-stimulant hybrid, also known as Ecstasy. Tests confirmed the officers’ suspicions.

According to the judiciary’s web site, Chang is on bail from Lincoln police charge of possession of a controlled substance pending since March, and he’s on probation after a conviction for the same charges, lodged against him by the state police, that date back to November 2017.