3 Charged In Drug Bust In North Haven: Police

NORTH HAVEN, CT — Three people were arrested in connection with a drug deal Tuesday morning in North Haven, according to police.

A patrol officer saw a vehicle on State Street with a fake temporary registration plate around 11:30 a.m. on July 23, according to police.

Police said the vehicle pulled into the Apt Foundation parking lot, where the officer saw what appeared to be a “hand-to-hand drug transaction.”

After leaving the parking lot, police said the vehicle was pulled over and the officer conducted a traffic stop.

“During the stop, K-9 Cyrus arrived on scene and was deployed for an open-air sniff of the exterior of the vehicle,” police wrote in a post on Facebook. “K-9 Cyrus positively alerted on the vehicle. K-9 Cyrus was then deployed inside the vehicle, where he positively alerted to portions of the interior of the vehicle, as well as a bag belonging to one of the occupants.

“Within the vehicle, officers located a scale, different denominations of cash, rolling papers, two cell phones on the driver’s seat, and an elastic style band consistent with use as a tourniquet for drug injection. Within one of the occupants’ bags was 10 wax folds of suspected Heroin / Fentanyl.”

Gary Coleman, 32, of New Haven, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to sell. Parish Belton, 26, of New Haven, was charged with possession with intent to sell, and 36-year-old Ashlee Esposito, of Hamden, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to police.