Jan. 5—HAVERHILL — Police said a Haverhill man who provided fentanyl to another man who passed out after inhaling it, dragged the unconscious man out of his vehicle and placed him behind the wheel of the man’s vehicle, then called 911 and drove away.
Police said the incident took place on the morning of Dec. 31 in the parking lot of the Dunkin’ Donuts on Amesbury Line Road, just off the Interstate 495 on and off ramps.
Following an investigation, police charged Joseph Perrotti, 34, of 92 Farrwood Drive, with distribution of a Class A drug (fentanyl).
Perrotti was arraigned on the charge Monday in Haverhill District Court, where Judge Cesar Archilla set bail at $10,000 cash and scheduled a hearing for Feb. 7.
Archilla ordered Perrotti to remain drug and alcohol free and submit to random screens.
According to a police report on file in Haverhill District Court, on Friday, Dec. 31, at noon, Detective Michael Mills was dispatched to the Dunkin’ Donuts at 407 Amesbury Road to follow up on a report of a possible drug overdose.
The report said police had been provided with surveillance video showing a drug transaction between Perrotti, who had arrived in a white Ford pickup truck that was registered to a construction company in Hampstead, New Hampshire, and a 38-year-old man who had arrived in a black GMC Sierra pickup truck with Massachusetts plates.
Officer Angel Aviles told Mills that when he arrived in the shop’s parking lot, he found the 38-year-old man unconscious and unresponsive behind the wheel of the Sierra.
Aviles told Mills the man was transported to Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill for treatment.
Mills said the surveillance video showed the man arriving at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 8:58 a.m. in the Sierra, and that he parked and waited. At 9:17 a.m., Perrotti arrived in the Ford truck and parked next to the Sierra.
Mills said the 38-year-old man got out of the Sierra and opened the passenger door of Perrotti’s truck, then Perrotti handed the man a white, folded piece of paper which the man placed in his pants pocket then climbed into Perrotti’s passenger seat.
According to the report, the man then placed the folded piece of paper on the center console of Perrotti’s truck and placed his face down into the center console, which police said was indicative of nasally ingesting narcotics in powder form.
Mills said the man then got out of and climbed back into Perrotti’s truck several times, and minutes later Perrotti began shaking the man — who appeared to have passed out — then he moved the man into his Sierra and positioned him in the driver’s seat.
Police said the video showed Perrotti using his cell phone while exiting the parking lot. Police said Perrotti had dialed 911. Perrotti’s probation record showed he had previously been convicted of distributing narcotics, police wrote in their report.
Police said they contacted Perrotti, who met them at the police station and said he met with the 38-year-old man at the Dunkin’ Donuts because the man owed him money. Perrotti was subsequently arrested and charged with distributing a Class A drug.
