Police: Fall River man dropped cash and cocaine during warrant search

FALL RIVER – Police arrested a 41-year-old city man on charges of allegedly possessing narcotics with intent to distribute and unlicensed possession of a pistol following a recent warrant search of a County Street apartment, a department spokesman said Monday.

As a result of the search warrant, Justin Michaud, whose last known address is 65 School St., was arrested on charges of possession of crack cocaine, a Class B substance, with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm and ammunition without an FID card, possession of a firearm in a felony and firearm violation with two prior violent or drug crimes, according to police.

About 6 p.m. on Friday, members of the Fall River Police Vice and Intelligence and Gang units arrived at 458 County St. to execute two separate search warrants, one for the second-floor apartment and one for the third-floor apartment, said Detective John Robinson, a department spokesman.

No one answered the door to the second-floor unit when officers knocked, so authorities entered the apartment and encountered Michaud inside, said Robinson.

A moment later, Michaud let fall an unidentified amount of cash from his hands, according to the spokesman.

“He tossed assorted U.S. currency from on the floor,” said Robinson.

He said Michaud then put a hand in his pocket before he was detained by authorities. When authorities removed Michaud’s hand, Robinson alleged nine individually wrapped baggies of suspected crack cocaine that he said were packaged for street-level sales fell to the floor.

A tenth small bag that contained the same suspected substance was allegedly recovered from Michaud’s pocket, with the combined weight of the suspected narcotics being 2.9 grams, he said.

Authorities continued their search of the apartment, Robinson said, and eventually located a backpack that Michaud claimed belonged to him behind a couch.

Investigators allegedly found a .40 caliber pistol inside the backpack, the spokesman said, adding that authorities will process the pistol for possible fingerprint evidence.

Two other people who were inside the County Street apartment at the time of the search were arrested on outstanding warrants, according to Robinson.

In 2010, Michaud was sentenced to just over three years in prison after being convicted of illegally possessing a large-capacity firearm, he said. Michaud was sentenced to two years’ incarceration in 2015 after being convicted of possession of a Class A substance with intent to distribute.