PD: Man With 19 Priors Arrested After Failed Crack Deal

A 39-year-old city man is facing robbery charges after say he threatened another man with a weapon after aggressively trying to sell the victim crack the night before.

On June 30 at 4 p.m., police were called to a home on South Main Street that Terrence Tyrone Muff, 39, of South Main Street was harassing a victim by threatening him with a 2-by-3-foot piece of wood, the report says, and he was robbed of $70 to $90 in cash but knew him only as a former tenant.

The victim said at 3:15 p.m., he left his room to do laundry and when he returned he saw Muff eating in the kitchen; recognizing him from the night before at Los Primos grocery on Main Street, trying to sell him crack, the report says. He kept putting drugs in the victim's hand and he declined repeatedly, police say.

The victim gave a physical description, which matched a man who was allowed to stay there a couple weeks ago by a resident, police say. A search of Muff's belongings at the room revealed scrubs, which the witness says were his, because he was going to Middlesex Community College to be a certified nursing assistant.

A records check revealed he had 19 prior arrests, police say, and was convicted of breach of peace, third-degree assault, probation violation, possession of narcotics, sale of hallucinogen, criminal mischief, unlawful restraint, failure to appear, escape from custody and violation of protective order. The report say at 8:30 p.m., police found him walking on Pearl Street wearing the clothes the victim reported stolen.

Police say he was very intoxicated, stumbling, and poured a beer bottle on the ground. Muff's statement, according to the report, was that the victim met him to smoke crack but refused to pay. The next day, Muff said, the victim was in the kitchen where he was staying and only gave him $12 but wouldn't admit to the victim's other allegations.

Once at police headquarters, the report says, he became agitated and urinated in the cell, then spit repeatedly on the desk.

He was charged with sixth-degree larceny and first-degree robbery.