Sorry, Darling, They Got Your Number

The bell tolled for Betsy Darling of Cromwell early this week. 

Actually, it was a cell phone.

Police from Middletown's narcotic unit were finishing up a drug bust at the home of a crack-cocaine dealer on Pease Avenue Tuesday. They seized the man's cell phone as evidence.

On the way to headquarters, the phone kept ringing. Det. N. Puorro decided to answer. It was a woman saying she needed a "twenty piece" (slang for $20 worth of cocaine) and asking if he had any. Puorro said yes.

They arranged to meet in five minutes in the parking lot of Mukie Mart, a convenience store at Newfield and Westfield streets that police say is a "high narcotic traffic area." The woman said she'd be driving a gray Oldsmobile Cutlass.

Puorro and his partner arrived in an unmarked car. A gray Cutlass pulled in at the same time.

The officers approached the car and asked the driver, a nervous-looking woman, why she was there. She said she was buying something at the convenience store. Det. Puorro pointed out the store was closed.

At the officers' request, the woman identified herself as Betsy Darling, 46, of 392 Main St., Cromwell, and got out of the car. She denied trying to buy cocaine. 

Here's where the cell phone comes in: Puorro pulled it out and dialed the number of the last caller. Immediately, Darling's pocket began to sing.

Puorro explained how he got Darling's number. "Are you serious?" she said. "I only buy once in a while."

A search turned up a $20 bill in Darling's jacket pocket and some steel wool on the car seat, which police say is used to filter crack cocaine while smoking.

Darling was charged with criminal attempt to possess cocaine and scheduled for a Tuesday court appearance.