Three people were arrested and more than 200 grams of crack cocaine and a gun were found after a car was pulled over on Interstate 91 in Western Massachusetts earlier this week, authorities said.
Massachusetts State Police Trooper Hunter Ratelle discovered 224 grams of crack cocaine and a disassembled, 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson handgun with a 16-round magazine behind the driver’s seat of the car after pulling the vehicle over on I-91 in Deerfield shortly after midday Monday. None of the people inside were licensed to carry a firearm, according to a statement from state police.
Ratelle was on the side of the highway observing northbound traffic Monday when he saw a grey sedan pass him with a rear registration tag that was unreadable. The trooper caught up with the car and stopped it, the statement said.
The trooper approached the driver of the car, Nicol Murano, 48, of Brattleboro, Vermont, and requested her license. However, she allegedly did not have one, according to state police.
Ratelle requested Murano step out of the car, put handcuffs on her and placed her in the back of his cruiser. The trooper then asked if either of the two passengers in the vehicle had a valid license, which they allegedly did not, state police said.
Troopers Curtis Bamberg and Stephen Shearer were called to help at the scene, and Ratelle asked for the car to be towed. He turned to searching the vehicle and had the two passengers step outside the car and join the troopers away from the highway, according to the statement.
During the subsequent search, Ratelle allegedly found the drugs and gun, the statement said.
Murano and the two passengers in the car — Katie Beam, 36, of Brattleboro, Vermont, and Najee Robertson, 35, of Bridgeport, Connecticut — were arrested and brought to the Shelburne Falls state police barracks, where they were booked, fingerprinted and photographed, according to state police.
The three individuals were arraigned in Greenfield District Court on charges of trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to violate drug law, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification (FID) card, possession of a firearm during a felony offense and possession of a large-capacity feeding device, state police said.
Murano faces additional charges of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and a number plate violation, and Najee was also charged with a firearm violation with one prior violent/drug crime, according to the statement.
