April 13, 2005
Man pretending to be deaf charged with heroin possession
From: Fitchburg Sentinel, MA - Apr 13, 2005
By J.J. Huggins
FITCHBURG -- Police charged a Townsend man with heroin possession after he allegedly pretended to be deaf and attempted to get charity money from a local business Monday, according to court documents.
Officers Brian Rouleau and Keith C. Bourne responded to a call from a business on Bemis Road, where an employee said a man had just gone into the store and passed a card, "stating he was deaf and needed money," according to a police report filed in Fitchburg District Court.
The store employee said he had given the man a check for $10 less than a year ago when the suspect did the same thing, but a police department mailed the check back after they found it while arresting the suspect, according to court documents.
The officers began searching for the man to question him, and Bourne found him at nearby business down the street, according to court documents.
"Officer Bourne was speaking to the suspect when I arrived," Rouleau wrote. "It was obvious that he was not deaf."
Rouleau frisked the suspect, Dante J. Cormier, 26, of 17 Emery Road, Townsend, and allegedly found a syringe in the pocket of his jacket, as well as "multiple deaf cards and three notes saying that he was deaf also asking for money," according to court documents.
Police arrested Cormier, and allegedly found "three bags of heroin in an empty package of Marlboro cigarettes," on him, according to court documents.
District Court Judge Elliott L. Zide released Cormier on personal recognizance bail after an arraignment hearing at Fitchburg District Court Tuesday.
© 1999-2005 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.