Montclair Man Arrested In Bloomfield Heroin Bust

Authorities arrested a Montclair man as part of a plainclothes police operation in Bloomfield on Wednesday.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the arrest took place around 7 p.m. at 270 Bloomfield Avenue, as plainclothes officers conducted a surveillance operation “due to information gained during on-going narcotics investigations in Bloomfield.”

At that time, two suspects, later identified as Khari Bradley, 19, of Montclair, and Nicholas Lawhorn, 27, of Paterson, arrived on the scene.

According to authorities, officers observed the two men as they “nervously” conversed with each other and paced back and forth in front of the apartment complex.

“Our officers watched as Lawhorn passed a large black plastic bag to Bradley who secreted it in his waistband,” Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated. “Bradley then walked to the rear of the complex where he apparently spotted one of our detectives and ran into the building through the rear entrance.”

Detectives immediately detained Lawhorn and began chasing Bradley. During the chase, Bradley exited the apartment building and began scaling a fence, allegedly dropped a package that he had been carrying, police stated.

Authorities said that Bradley then threw a plastic bag from his waistband to the ground before being apprehended a few block away.

Inside the package and plastic bag were 700 glassines of heroin stamped “Sting Ray” in blue ink, authorities said.

Bradley and Lawhorn were charged with possession of CDS, possession of CDS with intent to distribute, possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of the Berkeley School, possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 500 feet of Berkeley Heights Park and conspiracy to violate New Jersey’s narcotics laws.

Bradley was additionally charged with resisting arrest, police stated.