Couple Charged After Failed Attempt To Frame Peabody Drug Dealer

PEABODY, MA -- After allegedly spending $50 on marijuana Saturday morning, Michelle Koen and Andrew DeCarlo were not happy with the quality or quantity. Instead of cutting their losses, they ended up trying to frame the dealer that had sold them the bum weed. The dealer walked, but Koen and DeCarlo now face a string of charges stemming from the incident.

Koen, 26, of Danvers, was charged with filing false police reports, witness intimidation and using a false name. DeCarlo, 26, of Peabody, was charged with filing false police reports and witness intimidation. Koen could face additional charges for leaving her 6-year-old son alone in her Danvers apartment with a pitbull and drug residue, according to the Salem News, which first reported this story.

Peabody Police responded to a report of a fight in the parking lot of a liquor store on Lynnfield Street around 6 pm Saturday night. The responding officer saw a man running across the street and a Ford Explorer pulling out of the parking lot. He pulled over the Explorer; Koen, who was in the car, told the officer she had been robbed of $50 by the man he had seen running, and that the same man had punched her in the mouth.

After arresting the man who vehemently denied the story, Koen's story started to full apart. Police were able to determine that Koen had given her sister's name, and that the couple used the phone of a friend with autism to lure the man to the liquor store, where they demanded a refund of the $50 they had given him that morning. In the tussle that followed, they pulled off the man's jacket, which was recovered in the Explorer.

Adding a layer of bizarre to the story, DeCarlo initially claimed he had a child care issue and could not stay at the police station for an interview. A short time later, when police went to the parking lot to check the Explorer, they found DeCarlo hiding under a box in the back of the vehicle. Police also contacted Koen's sister, who told them she may have left her 6-year-old at home unattended.

Robbery charges against the man who allegedly sold them drugs were dropped and he was released without being charged. DeCarlo and Koen pleaded not guilty to the charges. DeCarlo was released on personal recognizance and Koen was released on $250 bail. The two are due back in court March 6.

For more on this story, see the Salem News. Subscribe to Peabody Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).