Child Finds Cocaine, Fentanyl at Subway, Arrest Made: EH Police

EAST HAVEN, CT - An arrest has been made in a 2017 risk of injury case where a 7 year-old child found a sandwich bag containing cocaine and fentanyl in the potato chip display at Subway Sandwich Shop, 521 Main Street, East Haven, police said Friday.

On November 22, 2017 police responded to Subway after a manager called to report that a customer turned in a bag of suspected narcotics, police said. .

Upon officer’s arrival, they seized a large sandwich bag containing seven smaller baggies filled with a white powder substance, police said. After speaking with the original complainant, it was determined that she entered Subway with her two children to order food, police said.

While she was ordering, her 7 year-old son found the bag containing narcotics in the chip display, seemingly dropped by a previous customer, police said. Unaware of the potential dangers it could have posed, the child began handling the bag of narcotics briefly before turning it over to his mother, police said.

The child did not ingest and was not directly exposed to the substances at any time and did not require medical attention, police said. Video surveillance of the incident showed a male and female enter the store approximately a half hour prior to the discovery of the drugs, police said.

The male later identified as Henry Marrero-Rodriguez, 47, is seen on video going into his coat pocket to retrieve his cell phone, police said.

As he brings his cell phone out of his pocket, a clear sandwich bag is seen falling from his pocket on to the potato chip display, police said. Marrero-Rodriguez and his female companion are then seen leaving the store without noticing the misplaced narcotics, police said.

A short time later, the complainant and her children enter the store which is when the drugs are discovered by the child, police said. The seized narcotics were later tested and were positively identified as Cocaine and Fentanyl.

Marrero-Rodriguez was positively identified with the help of outside agencies and by the video surveillance footage, police said.

Marrero-Rodriguez of Harrington Avenue, New Haven, CT was arrested this week and was charged with:

·Risk of Injury to a Minor

· Possession of Narcotics/Controlled Substance

Marrero-Rodriguez was held on a $50,000 bond.