Crime & Safety
PD: Drug Dealers Nabbed After Accidentally Texting Police Officer
Police reportedly recovered 100 Percocet pills from the suspects.
Two people were arrested on Friday after one of them reportedly sent a text message to a Meriden Police officer by accident – asking if he was interested in buying illegal prescription drugs.
At about 3 p.m. Friday, a patrol officer received a text message "out of the blue," Police Spokesman Det. Lt. Mark Walerysiak said Monday, from a woman interested in selling him 200 Percocet pills.
"The drug dealer thought they'd sent it to someone else," Walerysiak said.
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The officer, working undercover, then set up the deal and alerted the Meriden Police crime suppression unit, Walerysiak said. Detectives from the unit set out to meet with the seller at Meriden's Westfield Shopping Mall.
When an undercover police officer went to meet the seller, the two suspects, 19-year-old Lorraine Apuzzo, of Mansfield, and Frank Boemmels, 25, of Wallingford, reportedly became suspicious that police were involved and did not make the deal. They then split up and fled.
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Apuzzo allegedly got into her car and tried to drive away from officers.
"She began to drive away from them in a reckless manner, going so far as to drive away from them in reverse," police said in a statement.
When they stopped her, Apuzzo wouldn't open her doors or windows for police, according to Walerysiak. Officers broke one of the car windows in order to get the woman out, and one officer's hand was injured in the incident.
Police later found Boemmels in the mall. Apuzzo and Boemmels were both taken into custody.
Police reportedly recovered 100 Percocet pills from the suspects. Both were charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Sale of Narcotics, Conspiracy to Commit Sale of Narcotics, Criminal Attempt to Commit Sale of Narcotics in a School Zone.
Apuzzo was also charged with Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree, Reckless Driving, Interfering with an Officer, and Engaging in Pursuit. She was released on $50,000 bond with a court date of Feb. 2, 2012. Boemmels also has a Feb. 2 court date and was held on $150,000 bond.
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