GREENFIELD — A New Jersey man is being held on $50,000 bail after being accused of trafficking cocaine with children in the vehicle.
Noel Nieves, 39, of Elizabeth, N.J., was arraigned in Greenfield District Court Monday of reckless endangerment of a child, withholding evidence from a criminal proceeding, resisting arrest, littering, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, registration not in possession, number plate violation and trafficking cocaine more than 100 grams, but less than 200 grams.
On Saturday around 1:30 a.m., State Trooper Scott Boutell was on patrol in Greenfield and noticed a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a broken light above the rear license plate, according to Boutell’s police report.
After the officer turned his lights on, the driver, Nieves, did not immediately pull over. When the vehicle was stopped, Boutell noticed there were four occupants in the car — Nieves, a woman and two children in the backseat.
Boutell asked Nieves to exit the vehicle and walked him to the back of the car. He began to perform a pat-frisk, noticing a hard rectangular object by Nieves’ waistband. Boutell reported Nieves pulled away toward the guardrail and threw the object that was in his waistband.
The officer arrested Nieves, as well as the woman, and called for backup. The court papers did not specify the charge against the female passenger.
Officers attempted to search the area where Nieves threw the object, which was later located with assistance from K-9 Uno and Franklin County Sheriff Lt. Scott Waldron. Boutell said the object contained cocaine, which was packaged for distribution rather than personal use.
When searching the interior of the vehicle, a purse containing a pouch within a pouch was located. Inside of the second pouch, a small amount of cocaine was found.