PD: Drug Dealer Walks Into Police K-9 Training Session

A Meriden man carrying 10 plastic baggies of marijuana was arrested after he walked through the same field as two officers who were training a police dog overnight Wednesday, according to police.

Two officers were performing training exercises with one of the unit's two police dogs in a field behind Casimir Pulaski Elementary School Wednesday morning at about 2:40 a.m. During the training they saw Michael A. Dejesus, 19, walking through the back of the school's parking lot, Police Spokesman Darrin McKay said.

The officers stopped Dejesus and asked what he was doing there.

The man said he had just jumped over the fence from the Hillside Apartments on Hall Ave. and was cutting through school property to his girlfriend's house according to police. Officers asked if he had anything illegal on him and Dejesus openly admitted to carrying marijuana, McKay said.

Police found one gram of loose marijuana and a large plastic bag containing nine mini-baggies of marijuana – equalling 7.5 grams of marijuana overall – on Dejesus. They also discovered $98 in small bills, a Dutch Masters vanilla cigar, and 66 additional mini-bags on him.

The items were seized and Dejesus was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell, possession within 1500 feet of a school, paraphernalia, and criminal trespassing in the third degree.

Dejesus was given $25,000 bond and an April 4 court date, McKay said.