Thomas MacMillan Photo
Sgt. Joyner with the weed-purged crate.
State Police Photo
Moments after a 37-year-old on Norton Street signed for the delivery of a crate filled with pounds of marijuana, Sgt. Max Joyner and state police clapped him in handcuffs.
The bust happened just after 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday in front of 355 Norton St. between Goffe Street and Whalley Avenue. State police arrested a man for possession of 50 pounds of pot after he received a crate filled with weed from out of state. Police had been tipped off to the shipment after a dog hit on the crate at a shipping facility elsewhere in Connecticut.
By 1 p.m., undercover state cops were searching the powder blue house. Sgt. Joyner said they had the suspect detained inside.
The arrestee lives at the house with his parents. His father is employed by the city Department of Public Works as a “Right of Way Inspection/Enforcement Administrator.”
Sgt. Joyner (pictured) explained how the bust came about:
State cops intercepted the package on Tuesday at a shipping facility, after a drug dog alerted on the crate. The shipment originated somewhere on “the other side of the country,” Joyner said.
After employees at the shipping center notified state police, cops opened the package and found 50 pounds of weed packaged in one-pound bundles. The cops took out 40 pounds and re-sealed the crate, and had the package continue to its Norton Street destination.
Meanwhile, New Haven and state police set up nearby the house. As soon as a tractor trailer delivered the crate and the 37-year-old signed for the package, the police pulled up. Joyner said they arrested the man as he was maneuvering the big box on his front lawn.
Inside the wooden box was a smaller steel box filled with clear bags of high-grade weed. The box was addressed to “CT Home Team, LLC,” with no return address.
Shortly after 1 p.m., the suspect’s stepbrother John (pictured) showed up. He said he was just stopping by to visit his parents.
“I’m just shocked,” he said about the news the his stepbrother was arrested. “That’s brutal, man, you know?”
John, who’s 50, said he grew up in the house on Norton Street. He said CT Home Team is his stepbrother’s restoration business, which he helped him start.
A neighbor named Shlomo, who asked that his last name not be used, said the neighborhood doesn’t feel safe.
Alderwoman Claudette Robinson-Thorpe, who lives several doors down, also showed up. She called up the suspect’s father to let him know about the arrest.
Lt. J. Paul Vance with the state police said the suspect was later taken to New Haven police headquarters. Vance said police also seized a stolen firearm.
The suspect is being charged with possession of more than one kilogram of marijuana, with intent to sell, within 1500 feet of a school, and possession of a stolen firearm. He’ll be arraigned on Wednesday.
“It was a good grab,” Vance said. “These guys did a good job.”