Police Report: Road Rage Incident Leads to Drug Bust
Police say two men had open booze in a pickup truck and one had marijuana in his underpants.
An apparent incident of road rage resulted in police arresting two men for allegedly dealing drugs, according to a Somerville police report.
According to the report, an officer driving along Tufts and Cross streets at about 4:40 p.m. on June 21 encountered two vehicles in the middle of the road, blocking the intersection of Cross Street and Fountain Avenue.
The occupants of the vehicles appeared to be arguing with each other, and the officer thought he had stumbled upon a road rage incident, the report says.
When the officer turned on his blue lights, one of the cars drove toward the cruiser, but the other car, a pickup truck, tried to drive off, according to the report.
The driver of the first car told the officer he had tried to turn his car around, but the pickup truck stopped him from doing so, the report says.
When police walked over to the pickup truck, they noticed the passenger was David Meli, 22, of 159 Glen St., who "is well known to me and other members of the Somerville Police Department" for previous arrests for drug distribution arrests, according to the report.
The driver of the pickup truck, Cliff Maingrette, 23, of Mattapan, smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot and glossy eyes, the report says.
When police asked for his driver's license, he at first handed over a black credit card, according to the report.
When officers searched Maingrette, he was wearing several pairs of pants and shorts, which was odd because temperatures were in the mid 90s, the report says. The report claims people sometimes wear multiple pairs of pants because it helps them hide narcotics.
Officers allegedly found two plastic baggies containing pills believed to be Percocet, seven baggies containing what they believed to be cocaine and $2320 in cash, the according to the report.
When police searched Meli, they found a bag in his underwear believed to be filled with marijuana, the report says.
In the pickup truck was a red cup filled with alcohol, the report says.
Maingrette and Meli were arrested and charged with drug possession, heroin, morphine or opium trafficking, possessing an open container of alcohol in a car, conspiracy to violate drug law and drug violation near a school.
Please remember that allegations contained in police reports do not indicate a conviction.
