Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Driver Found With Needle in Hand and Heroin in Car During Traffic Stop: DA

By Nicholas Rizzi | August 1, 2016 3:53pm
 Police found a driver with a needle in his hand and 20 glassine envelopes of heroin in his car after he was pulled over for tinted windows.
Police found a driver with a needle in his hand and 20 glassine envelopes of heroin in his car after he was pulled over for tinted windows.
View Full Caption
Shutterstock

MARINERS HARBOR — A man pulled over for having too-dark tinted windows in his car was holding a hypodermic needle in his hand and had 20 envelopes of heroin in his car, prosecutors said.

Michael Catalano, 32, was pulled over by police on the corner of Leyden Avenue and Harbor Road at 4:45 p.m. on July 26 because his car had tinted windows, prosecutors said.

When officers approached the car, they found Catalano holding a hypodermic needle with heroin residue in his left hand, prosecutors said.

During a search of the car, officers found 20 envelopes of heroin in the center console — labeled "Hall Pass" and "Magoo" — and five envelopes with heroin residue, prosecutors said.

Catalano was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminally possessing a hypodermic instrument, according to the Staten Island District Attorney's office.

He was released without bail and is due back in court on Oct. 13, according to online court records.

Catalano's lawyer could not be reached for comment.