Crime & Safety

Cops: Man Caught with 'Wet' — PCP-Soaked Marijuana

Police officers drew their guns when they recently stopped a man who seemed to be selling drugs at Ryan Park and found PCP-soaked marijuana on him, according to police reports.

Norwalk police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Police in the special services division were driving around in part to look for suspicious activity and passed by Ryan Park, known as an open-air illegal drug market in Norwalk.

At about 7:08 p.m., they saw three individuals gathered in a group on nearby Raymond Street, near South Main Street, with each person looking at the hand of one of them, later identified as Christopher Barrett, 42, who gave his address as the homeless shelter at 4 Merritt St. in South Norwalk.

As the police car approached, Barrett quickly turned around and started walking up the street. Police asked him to stop at one point, but he continued walking north onto South Main Street.

He eventually did stop, but then refused to remove his hands from his pockets. Believing he might be concealing a weapon, police pulled out their own guns and held them "at low ready" -- not pointing them at anyone.

Barrett then slowly started taking his hands out of his pockets, but then slowly put them all the way back in. Officers approached him, and he could be seen tensing up his muscles before he was taken into custody.

All the while he had a blank stare and wouldn't answer questions, including his name and the address where he lived.

Barrett displayed signs of being under the influence of "wet" -- marijuana laced with PCPs. Police took him to Norwalk Hospital for an evaluation.

Inside Barrett's pockets police found narcotics and a folding knife. They also found a bag with several pieces of aluminum-foil folded up and containing a green, leafy substance later identified as "wet." In another bag in his pockets, police found crack cocaine.

Barrett was charged with selling illegal drugs, possession of less than four ounces of marijuana, possession of narcotics and illegal possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school.

Barrett was initially held on $25,000 bond, later reduced to $10,000. He remains in jail and is next scheduled to appear on Dec. 19 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.


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