Cops: Man Hands Weed to Officer, Found with Crack Cocaine in Pants

A Bridgeport man is facing weapons and drug charges following an incident early Tuesday morning in which Stamford police said they caught the man with marijuana red-handed when they stopped to talk to him. 

Sgt. Adrian Novia was on patrol in the area of 240 Fairfield Avenue when he spotted two males with black hoodies pulled up over their heads walking down the rear driveway to the Hilton Hotel. Police said when the men spotted the police vehicle, they began to walk quickly down the the driveway and into a garage area. 

Police said Novia followed them into the area and discovered they'd disappeared. When he turned around to come back the way he'd come, Novia spotted a man identified by authorities as Tyrone Dotson, 22, of 327 Madison Avenue in Bridgeport, emerging from the area of a dumpster. Dotson was alone, police said. 

When Dotson spotted Novia approaching him again, he began emptying his pockets onto the ground, police said. When the sergeant approached him, Dotson allegedly smelled strongly of marijuana and, when asked what he was doing in the area, he stated he was "smoking," and held up a marijuana cigarette, which he handed to the officer. 

Novia noted two black cellphones and a spring-loaded, red-and-black folding knife on the ground where Dotson had allegedly emptied his pockets. As Novia spoke with Dotson, who was unable to provide a reason for why he was in the area, where he was going or where his friend had gone, he noticed Dotson repeatedly reaching toward the front area of his pants, police said. When Novia went to search Dotson for his own protection, Dotson stopped him from doing so, police said. 

According to authorities, Novia spotted the top of a clear plastic bag sticking out of Dotson's pants, which Dotson allegedly claimed was, "Just some weed." When it was removed, Novia found it to contain 25 smaller knotted bags of what police said tested positive as being crack cocaine. 

Dotson was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of drugs near a school and carrying a dangerous weapon. He was given a court date of October 21 and was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday after failing to post a $25,000 bond.