Alleged Evasive Behavior and Odd Coincidence End with Drug Arrest

Two young men arrested and charged with possession of heroin and of knives with blades longer than allowed by city ordinance, apparently aroused suspicion by exhibiting evasive behavior as a police cruiser past by them. Meanwhile, a warrant out for a man with the same name, birth date, and “oddly similar” appearance as the vehicle owner, also partly triggered police pursuit.

On Sunday, Feb. 6 just before 1 p.m., patrolman R. Lavey spotted two white males parked in a Jeep on Tufts St. He might have driven past, but once the occupants saw him, they looked away and started the vehicle, according to the police report. So Lavey ran the license plate on his cruiser’s laptop and turned up an arrest warrant for what appeared to be the car’s owner.

Lavey and another officer began pursuit, and nearly lost the vehicle after it drove out of sight and pulled into a driveway blocked by high snowbanks at 52 Alston St. (an address neither suspect is believed to have a connection to).

Once approached officers allegedly found three “large" knives and an open black bag filled with “many capped hypodermic[s] and syringes, and … a hypodermic filled with a brown liquid uncapped” consistent with the appearance of heroin, according to the police report.

A bottle of clear capsules and two unmarked white pills were also found in the bag and entered into evidence.

Brandon Wood, 19, who is homeless, and Brandon Shelzi, 20, of Belmont, were both arrested and charged with possession of a class A drug and possession of a knife in violation of city ordinance.

The warrant that had appeared to be for Brandon Wood, turned out to be for another man with the same name and birth date but different middle initial, who is wanted on charges of military desertion. 

“Based on my training and experience of nearly twenty years, the chances of a suspect having the same first and last name and same [date of birth] are unbelievably odd. I have never seen this type of match. The physical description provided on the warrant (attached) is oddly similar,” wrote Lavey in the police report.