EAST HAVEN -- Police have made an arrest in a case where a man dropped a bag of drugs in a restaurant that were later found by a child.
Police said they arrested Henry Marrero-Rodriguez, 47, and charged him with Risk of Injury to a Minor and Possession of Narcotics/Controlled Substance.
The incident happened at the Subway Sandwich Shop, 521 Main Street, in East Haven. Police said on November 22, 2017 they were called to Subway after a manager called to report that a customer turned in a bag of suspected narcotics. Police seized the large sandwich bag containing seven smaller baggies filled with a white powder substance. A woman told police she entered Subway with her two children to order food. While she was ordering, her 7-year-old son found the bag containing narcotics in the chip display, seemingly dropped by a previous customer. The child held the bag of narcotics for a moment before turning it over to his mother but was not directly exposed to the substances at any time and did not require medical attention. according to police.
Video showed a man and woman who entered the store about 30 minutes before the drugs were found. The man, who police later identified as Marrero-Rodriguez is seen on video going into his coat pocket to retrieve his cell phone. As the cell phone is pulled out of his pocket, a clear sandwich bag is seen falling from his pocket on to the potato chip display. Marrero-Rodriguez and the woman leave the store without noticing the misplaced narcotics. A short time later, the woman and her children enter the store which is when the drugs are discovered by the child.
The seized narcotics were later tested and were positively identified as Cocaine and Fentanyl. Marrero-Rodriguez was positively identified with the help of outside agencies and by the video surveillance footage.
Marrero-Rodriguez was held on a $50,000 bond and went before a judge Friday.