Traffic Stop Leads To Big Drug Bust

Traffic Stop Leads To Big Drug Bust
Two pounds of heroin recovered
Damien Fisher
News Staff Writer

WESTMINSTER  Police found more than two pounds of heroin and a quantity of crack cocaine during a traffic stop late Thursday night on Route 2.

The large drug haul happened after the suspect’s car, a Chevrolet Malibu registered in New Hampshire, failed to move over for a police car at a traffic stop, according to Massachusetts State Trooper Christopher Call’s report.

Mr. Call was finishing up a traffic stop with another vehicle around 11:20 p.m. Thursday night on Route 2 in Westminster when the car being driven by Edward Lower, 54, of Swanzey, New Hampshire, sped past without changing lanes for the safety of the stopped cars, Mr. Call reports.

Under Massachusetts law, drivers approaching a stopped emergency vehicle that is flashing its lights must pull over to the next lane if safe to do so, or slow down when passing. Mr. Call reports that Mr. Lower was driving between 60 and 65 miles per hour when he passed, above the posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour.

Mr. Call stopped the car and soon found that Mr. Lower was wanted on a warrant for allegedly driving without a license. Mr. Lower said he was driving with his stepson and his stepson’s friend after visiting Leominster. Mr. Lower was placed under arrest on the warrant. Mr. Call went back to the car to speak to the two other men, Christopher Foster, 27, of Keene, New Hampshire, and Joseph Machowski, 27, of Brattleboro, Vermont, and noticed a prescription pill bottle in the back of the car. The prescription was made out to the name of a woman, Mr. Call reports.

Inside the bottle were numerous small baggies containing a white powdery substance, as well as some nitroglycerine pills. Mr. Lower said the pills are for his heart.

Mr. Foster was unable to drive the car, as he told police he had an ankle injury, and Mr. Machowski told police that his license had been suspended because of an operating under the influence charge. Mr. Call reports when learning that he called for the car to be towed.

Before the car was towed, police took an inventory of the car’s contents and noticed a McDonald’s bag on the front passenger seat, Mr. Call reports. The bag was noticeably rectangular, and when an officer moved it that bag seemed heavier than if it had been full of food from McDonald’s, the officer reports.

Inside the bag police report discovering four bricks of a brown substance believed to be heroin, totaling more than two pounds. Also inside were reportedly numerous bags of a substance believed to be crack cocaine. All of the suspect crack bags appeared to be packaged for sale, Mr. Call reports. The total weight of the suspected crack is about 16 grams, Mr. Call wrote in his report.

In Gardner District Court for their arraignments on drug distribution charges on Friday, none of the three men took responsibility for the drugs. Judge Arthur Haley set bail at $20,000 cash, or $200,000 bond. At court, a woman posted $20,000 in cash to Mr. Foster’s bail, while the other men were transported to the Worcester County House of Correction in West Boylston. They are due back in court on Aug. 18 for a pretrial hearing.