AYER — On Tuesday., Nov. 7, 2023, at approximately 12:20 p.m., Officer Timothy Ialeggio of the Ayer Police Department was traveling eastbound on Central Avenue near Sandy Pond Road when a silver Hyundai Accent passed his location heading west.
(The account and quotations in this article were taken from Officer Ialeggio’s Summary of Facts.)
“As the vehicle passed my location I was able to observe the female registered owner (Angela Gonzalez) operating the vehicle as well as a male party in the passenger seat who I recognized as Todd Blodgett who was wearing a blue t-shirt,” Officer Ialeggio said. “I am familiar with both Todd and Angela from prior police dealings within the Town of Ayer and have dealt with both of these individuals in regards to narcotics related offenses.”
Todd Curtis Blodgett, 50, is a resident of 192 Ayer Road, Apt. R in Shirley. According to Ayer police’s arrest report, Blodgett is unemployed, known to abuse drugs, and is “suspect in sales and distribution of illegal narcotics.”
Officer Ialeggio notified Officer Michael Nicolo of his observations. Officer Nicolo said he was on Central Avenue heading westbound near TAG Heating & Cooling, he reversed direction in order to try to locate the vehicle.
“Officer Nicolo was able to locate this vehicle in the area of Central Avenue at Nashoba Valley Express,” Officer Ialeggio said. “As Officer Nicolo pulled out behind the gray Hyundai Accent, the vehicle immediately pulled into Nashoba Club Pizza’s parking lot on Adams Street. Officer Nicolo observed Todd jump out of the passenger seat and head into Nashoba Pizza holding a brown paper bag. Based on my training, knowledge, experience, and actions of Todd, what Officer Nicolo and I observed was Todd possibly trying to conceal illegal contraband. Angela then left the area headed towards downtown on Central Avenue.”
Officer Ialeggio got out of his cruiser and went into Nashoba Club Pizza & Taproom.
“I was able to see Todd holding a brown bag in his hands as he was pacing in the bar area. I then left the building,” Officer Ialeggio said.
While seated in his crusier, Officer Ialeggio said he saw Blodgett stick his head out the front door of the restaurant, eye his cruiser, and quickly retreat into the restaurant.
Officer Ialeggio called the owner of the establishment, R.J.
“I asked if he was on scene. R.J. stated no. I explained the situation to R.J. who was able to access the establishment’s CCTV [closed circuit television] system and could see Todd sitting on a bar stool before leaving and going into the bathroom briefly before coming back out. R.J. advised he was sitting at the bar nodding his head and looking around frantically and asked me if I could tell him to leave the establishment,” Officer Ialeggio said.
Officers Nicolo and Ialeggio went into the restaurant and located Blodgett sitting at the bar nodding his head while holding a brown paper bag.
“Todd was clearly under the influence of what appeared to be drugs and was having trouble formulating a sentence,” Officer Ialeggio said. “I explained why I believed he was actually inside the restaurant based on my previous observations. Todd was sitting on a bar stool holding onto the counter for support as he tried to communicate with me. I explained to Todd he looked visibly intoxicated and asked what drug he was on. Todd stated he was not on drugs and that he didn’t know what I was talking about. I told Todd the owner of the building wanted him to leave as he was not comfortable with him being in the establishment in his current state. I asked Todd what was in the bag. Todd stated nothing. I asked him to show me the contents of the bag.”
Blodgett opened the bag and the officer saw a few bags of candy, a granulated measuring spoon measuring (1T) with a white powdery residue on it, a torn off corner baggie, and some loose change.
Officer Nicolo then went into the bathroom and located a Walgreens bag with an open box of baking soda inside of it.
“Todd immediately stated ‘that’s just baking soda,’” Officer Ialeggio said. “I asked Todd what he had in his pockets. Todd stated he had a ‘few stems’ (crack pipes) and was able to produce four from his right front pocket. These crack pipes were burned, covered in a white powdery residue, and were consistent with what I recognized as glass pipes used for smoking crack cocaine.”
At this time, Officer Ialeggio determined it was likely Blodgett had narcotics on him, so he search him.
“During the search I placed my hand on Todd’s right sock where I immediately felt a large bulge,” Officer Ialeggio said. “This bulge felt somewhat hard and was wrapped up in what I believed to be paper. I was able to determine simultaneously that the item is not a weapon and that the item was contraband. At this time Todd was handcuffed. While handcuffing Todd he stated, ‘there’s a lot of drugs in there.’”
In Blodgett’s right sock, Officer Ialeggio recovered the following:
- A white plastic bag wrapped in paper containing a white powdery substance. This substance would later field test positive for cocaine, a Class B drug.
- A small corner baggie containing four small hard white crystals which would later test positive for crack cocaine.
- A pay check with the name “Angela Gonzalez” on it containing small white crystals on it that later field tested positive for crack cocaine.
In Blodgett’s left sock, the following was recovered:
- Two corner baggies containing a brown powdery substance which would later field test positive for fentanyl, a Class A drug. (Both of these bags were equal weight and packaged the same way).
Also, in one of Blodgett’s rear pockets, Officer Ialeggio found $820 cash.
Blodgett was charged with the following:
- Possession of a Class B Drug
- Possession of a Class A Drug with Intent to Distribute
Blodgett’s bail was set at $750.
Blodgett was arraigned in Ayer District Court on Nov. 11, 2023, he attended a pretrial hearing on Nov. 27, 2023, and appeared in court again on December 26, 2023.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from November, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
