CHARLESTON — A man swallowed a bag of cocaine during an arrest for drunken driving on Staten Island, prosecutors said.
Anthony Occhinero, 25, was driving his 2002 Buick on Arthur Kill Road at 3 a.m. Saturday when officers saw him make a right turn without a blinker and crash his back tire into the curb, prosecutors said.
Officers said Occhinero's breath smelled of alcohol and he was unsteady on his feet when they pulled him over. They then found a Ziploc bag of cocaine in his pocket, prosecutors said.
When the officer put the bag on his car, Occhinero allegedly leaned over, put the drugs in his mouth and swallowed them, prosecutors said.
Occhinero was charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and obstructing governmental administration at his arraignment, according to the Staten Island District Attorney's office.
His bail was set at $500 and he's due back in court on June 23.
"My client denies the allegations that are in the complaint," his lawyer, Allen Cappelli, said.
Occhinero was previously arrested in 2014 and charged with assault after he punched and kicked a man during a bar fight at the Drunken Monkey bar, the Staten Island Advance reported.
