It you are due in Buffalo City Drug Court, it is never a good idea to bring illegal drugs.
That’s a lesson one defendant was left to contemplate Monday.
Richard E. Thibault, at the last minute, allegedly decided to hide a crack cocaine pipe outside the downtown Buffalo courthouse at 50 Delaware Ave.
Buffalo Police Accident Investigator Martin Forero also was on his way to court at 9:25 a.m. and happened to spot the man stashing the pipe in some shrubs on the courthouse perimeter.
Forero walked up to Thibault and asked if the pipe belonged to him.
“Yeah, that’s my pipe, but it’s only got some used crack in it,” Thibault said.
Forero then asked the 54-year-old West Side man, “What business do you have in this building?”
“I was going up to the fourth floor to the court program for drugs,” Thibault answered.
Forero, assisted by State Court Officer Erich Nikischer, then asked if he had any other drugs, and Thibault took three loose pills from his pocket and said, “That’s just my medication.”
The prescription medication, police said, turned out to be a narcotic used for Parkinson’s disease.
Thibault then showed the police an item from his back pocket that could not be so easily explained.
“Is this crack cocaine?” Forero asked.
Thibault denied it, saying, “No, man, that’s just sunflower seeds.”
Forero and Nikischer did not accept the explanation.
At that point, Thibault pleaded for a break.
“I can’t go to jail over this right now,” he said. “I gotta go to Canada. So I can’t be facing no felonies, you know. I gotta have my Thanksgiving dinner with my family. That’s why I left that pipe outside. I didn’t want to get busted with it. Please give me a break.”
Nothing doing: Forero charged Thibault with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and he was remanded to the Erie County Holding Center.
As for a family Thanksgiving dinner in Canada, Forero noted the holiday was celebrated there last month. Accident Investigator Keith LaFalce also helped in the arrest.
email: lmichel@buffnews.com
That’s a lesson one defendant was left to contemplate Monday.
Richard E. Thibault, at the last minute, allegedly decided to hide a crack cocaine pipe outside the downtown Buffalo courthouse at 50 Delaware Ave.
Buffalo Police Accident Investigator Martin Forero also was on his way to court at 9:25 a.m. and happened to spot the man stashing the pipe in some shrubs on the courthouse perimeter.
Forero walked up to Thibault and asked if the pipe belonged to him.
“Yeah, that’s my pipe, but it’s only got some used crack in it,” Thibault said.
Forero then asked the 54-year-old West Side man, “What business do you have in this building?”
“I was going up to the fourth floor to the court program for drugs,” Thibault answered.
Forero, assisted by State Court Officer Erich Nikischer, then asked if he had any other drugs, and Thibault took three loose pills from his pocket and said, “That’s just my medication.”
The prescription medication, police said, turned out to be a narcotic used for Parkinson’s disease.
Thibault then showed the police an item from his back pocket that could not be so easily explained.
“Is this crack cocaine?” Forero asked.
Thibault denied it, saying, “No, man, that’s just sunflower seeds.”
Forero and Nikischer did not accept the explanation.
At that point, Thibault pleaded for a break.
“I can’t go to jail over this right now,” he said. “I gotta go to Canada. So I can’t be facing no felonies, you know. I gotta have my Thanksgiving dinner with my family. That’s why I left that pipe outside. I didn’t want to get busted with it. Please give me a break.”
Nothing doing: Forero charged Thibault with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and he was remanded to the Erie County Holding Center.
As for a family Thanksgiving dinner in Canada, Forero noted the holiday was celebrated there last month. Accident Investigator Keith LaFalce also helped in the arrest.
email: lmichel@buffnews.com