Cops on Patrol for Quality of Life Issues Nab Man Said To Possess Drugs, Cash

Officers on a selective enforcement patrol Wednesday at 65 Ward St. due to residents' complaints about quality of life issues arrested a Bridgeport man after finding him allegedly carrying crack cocaine and $1,400 cash, police said.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lisa Cotto said persons trespassing in Union Cemetery would be an example what the officers were watching for.

Shortly before 6 p.m. they spotted Timothy Marriner, who they recognized because of previous convictions and pending cases for selling drugs, Cotto said. One of the officers reported that as soon as he exited the car, Marriner saw him and began running.

They chased Marriner into a public housing complex and brought him to the ground, Cotto said. She said as the officers handcuffed him, he threw something away he had grasped in his hand. The officers said it was a knotted plastic bag containing a white powdery substance that later tested positive for crack cocaine.

They said Marriner also had bundles of $20 bills in his pocket. They said the  bills were rolled together in $100 increments amounting to $1,400.

Marriner, 46, of 259 Madison Ave., was charged with possession of narcotics, interferring with an officer, first-degree trespassing, two counts of possession or sale of narcotics with 1,500 feet of a school, and illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, prescription or administration of narcotics. He was held on $50,000 bond and given a court date of June 22.