Middletown Arrests: July 4-30

Middletown Police report the following incidents:

July 30

USE OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA, NON-STUDENT POSSESSING DRUGS AND DRUG PARAPHERNALIA NEAR A SCHOOL, POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO SELL, POSSESSION OF AND DISTRIBUTION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES At 6 p.m., police on patrol in the Ferry Street apartments found Gary Higgins, 25, of Ferry Street sitting in a staircase with a backpack on the upper steps, according to the report, that smelled strongly of marijuana. When asked, police say, Higgins first admitted the backpack was his, then denied it. Inside, the report says, was a clear plastic container with three baggies of marijuana inside that was wrapped in a manilla envelope inside a clear ziplock bag wrapped in a white tee shirt, a digital scale with marijuana residue and $151 in cash.

SECOND-DEGREE BREACH OF PEACE, THIRD-DEGREE ASSAULT — At 6 a.m., Gabriel Colon, 28, of Grand Street turned himself in on an outstanding warrant.

SECOND-DEGREE FAILURE TO APPEAR — At 8 a.m., Juanita Hostos, 24, of Gold Street, New Britain, turned herself in on an outstanding warrant.

July 27

FAILURE TO WEAR SEATBELT IN FRONT, DUI, FAILURE TO DRIVE IN THE PROPER LANE — At 1 p.m., Melinda M. Steele, 45, of Nordland Avenue, Cromwell, was seen by witnesses driving while intoxicated on Bartholomew Road while driving a Chevy Malibu with New Hampshire plates. When officers arrived, they found Steele driving on Bartholomew Road with open Budweiser beer cans in her car. The report says the passenger side of the car smelled heavily of alcohol. She failed sobriety tests, police say, but insisted she was not drunk. Her blood alcohol levels registered .249 percent and Steele refused another, asking for a lawyer. The report says that Steele's sister told police she needs help attending an inpatient program for her drinking problem. She has two prior DUI convictions, according to the report.

July 25

VIOLATION OF RESTRAINING ORDER — At 10:30 a.m., Dontroy Lewis, 41, of Sterling Street, Hartford, was brought in on an outstanding warrant from the state Department of Motor Vehicle Police in Hartford due to a domestic issue.

OPERATION MOTOR VEHICLE WHEN LICENSE SUSPENDED, FAILURE TO DRIVE AT REASONABLE DISTANCE — At 5 p.m., Tiffany L. Menenedez, 24, of Hawks Nest Island Drive, Orange Park, Fla., was involved in a three-car accident on Washington Street while driving an Acura TLS, according to the report, and rear-ended a car, which rear-ended the vehicle in front of it.

July 4

OPERATION MOTOR VEHICLE WHEN LICENSE SUSPENDED, FAILURE TO HAVE TAIL LAMPS — At 11:17 p.m., Lacurtis J. Brown, 43, of Grove Street was seen driving on deKoven Drive with a broken tail light. According to the report, Brown told officers he had just left work at the Inn at Middletown and was driving to the home of the car owner to drop it off.

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