Putnam County Sheriff’s Crackdown in Recent Narcotics Arrests

Over the last month the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, specifically their Narcotics Enforcement Unit has been active in apprehending a number of suspects for various drug related charges. One town in particular has been a frequent place of visit for the NEU during this time as this one town has acted at the setting for multiple encounters with different suspects.

Sheriff's in Southeast

The town in question if the bold font up above wasn't obvious enough is the town of Southeast in Putnam County. In the last month two separate incidents occurred involving the NEU, one of the cases involving the arrest of a Connecticut man and the other being a man from Newburgh.

Sheriff's on Patrol

Both of these incidents and details of the encounters were recently confirmed by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office via press release. The first incident reportedly occurred at the tail end of the Summer on August 26, 2024.

It was approximately 2:50 during the afternoon where members of the NEU were on patrol in Southeast when they noticed a vehicle with an expired. The vehicle had Virginia plates which apparently had expired back in 2016.

Sheriff's observed the driver of the vehicle as he appeared to snort a "white powdered substance" which the Sheriff's believed to be cocaine. Sheriff's in their investigation confirmed the drivers identity as 32-year old, Ahmed A. Haider of East Haven, Connecticut.

Part of the investigation also involved Sheriff's searching Haider as well as his vehicle, where they discovered and seized  a quantity of cocaine and buprenorphine. According to the New York State Department of Health, buprenorphine or naloxone is a prescription drug that "helps people to stop using heroin or other opioid drugs".

Haider was arrested and transported to the Putnam County Correctional Facility, where he was charged with two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th Degree, a misdemeanor. He was released with an appearance ticket pending a future court date in the Town of Southeast Court.

Stacking Charges

The second case mentioned in the press release has a much longer timeline. Back on August 13, 2024 a Newburgh man identified as 37-year old Christopher R. Weale failed to appear in the Town of Southeast Court for two open cases with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

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The first case was for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th Degree which like the previous case, is a misdemeanor charge. The second was for Bail Jumping in the Third Degree which is a class A misdemeanor.

For failing to appear in court, the Honorable Judge Vercollone of the Town of Southeast court issued two separate bench warrants for the cases. Fast forward to last week where on September 25, 2024, Weale was arrested in the City of Newburgh for an unrelated crime.

After being arrested by the City of Newburgh Police, Weale was held on his active bench warrants and later was turned over to NEU members and charged with two new counts of Bail Jumping in the 3rd Degree.

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Weale finally appeared in the Town of Southeast Court where he was then arraigned on his charges by Judge Vercollone. Following arraignment, Weale was remanded to the Putnam County Correctional Facility on $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond pending future court appearances.