Afternoon at Pool Leads to Cocaine Arrest

A man was arrested and charged with cocaine possession Saturday after an officer observed him offering another person drugs at The Retreat condos, according to an report.

An officer was patrolling the area near The Retreat's pool at about 3:30 a.m., when he overheard a man ask another person if he "wanted a blow." When the officer looked through the fence into the pool area he saw a man take a small plastic baggy out of his pocket and untie it.

The man with the baggy and the other man he was speaking to began talking about doing acid at a concert. The officer reported that he heard one of them say you "had to take control of the drug and not let it take control of you."

The officer watched as the man who had offered the drugs — later identified as Peter Villari, 22 — snort some of what was inside the bag and then offer it to the other man. At this time, police ran into the area and grabbed Villari. 

While Villari was struggling with the officer, he tossed the plastic bag into the pool. The man who was being offered drugs jumped out of the pool and over the fence. The officer retrieved the bag from the pool, which had a white powdery substance later positively identified as cocaine. 

Another man was detained temporarily for questioning, but was not arrested. Several of the other people at the pool left behind their posessions while vacating the area. Those possessions are being held in evidence for safekeeping.

Villari was arrested and charged with posession of cocaine. He was then transported to Clarke County Jail.