Orange police arrest man with crack cocaine, digital scale, Percocet, open alcohol container, and suspended license during traffic stop

ORANGE — On Friday, October 25, 2024, at approximately 10:55 p.m., Officer Kyle Johnson of the Orange Police Department was on patrol monitoring traffic on East River Street in the area of Red Brook Lane when he observed a vehicle approaching his location that appeared to be travelling above the posted 30 mile per hour speed limit. Officer Andrew Starbard was also on duty during the shift.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Johnson and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

“I activated my patrol vehicle’s radar unit and it displayed a speed of 42 mph,” Officer Johnson said. “As the vehicle passed me, I observed it to be a white Nissan Rogue bearing Massachusetts registration [# redacted]. I pulled out behind the vehicle and began to catch up to prepare for a traffic stop.”

Officer Johnson activated the blue overhead lights in his cruiser and pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road.

“I approached the vehicle on the passenger side and began speaking with the operator, Kevin McGann,” Officer Johnson said. “I advised him he was stopped for speeding; 42 mph in a 30-mph posted zone. When I advised him of this, he apologized for speeding. I requested his license and the vehicle’s registration. McGann told me his license was currently suspended due to a previous OUI offense and he was working on getting it back.”

According to police, Kevin R. McGann, 28, is a resident of 419 E River Street, Orange, MA.

“McGann provided me with a Massachusetts ID card and the registration,” Officer Johnson recounted. “I asked him how much alcohol he had consumed due to an overwhelming odor of alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle. He told me he did not drink any alcohol. I observed his pants were wet in his thigh area and the seat was wet. I asked him if he had an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, which he denied. He stated he thought one of the sealed alcoholic beverages he had just purchased from Yatco [Food Mart] had broken open. All containers in the bag appeared to still be sealed. I did not observe any signs of impairment on McGann such as slurred speech or red eyes. I asked him again where the open container was. McGann told me he, ‘…might have peed himself.’ After this, McGann admitted he had an open container and pulled a near-full opened can of [Monster] Nasty Beast Hard Tea from between his feet and placed it in the cup holder. He said he had just opened it prior to the traffic stop.”

Officer Johnson asked McGann to step out of his car and walk to the back of the vehicle and he complied.

“I provided McGann’s license information to dispatch and requested license status information and warrant status,” Officer Johnson said. “Dispatch informed me his license was suspended and he did not have any warrants. I asked McGann how many prior charges he had for operating after suspension and he said he had only one. Dispatch informed he had, ‘a couple,’ prior charges as well as OUI charges.”

Officer Johnson then returned to his cruiser to review McGann’s driving history.

“I observed him to have four prior charges dating back to 2016 as well as one OUI,” Officer Johnson said. “At that time, I informed McGann that I was placing him under arrest. I secured him in handcuffs and searched his person. I located six small prescription pills in his left pants pocket. These were consistent with Percocet 10 mg pills that McGann later admitted to and stated he did not have a prescription for them.”

Officer Starbard read McGann his Miranda rights from a card he was carrying on his person.

“McGann said he understood and was willing to speak with us,” Officer Johnson said. “I placed the Percocet pills in an evidence bag. Officer Starbard informed me that McGann told him there was approximately 5 grams of crack cocaine and a digital scale under the passenger seat. Officer Starbard secured McGann in the rear seat of his patrol vehicle and I began searching the vehicle based on the probable cause it contained illegal narcotics. Inside the vehicle, I located one bag of suspected crack cocaine under the passenger seat. It was a hard, chalky substance packaged in a knotted glassine bag and was consistent with crack cocaine based on my training and experience. I located a digital scale next to the bag of cocaine. The scale had white residue on it. McGann had told Officer Starbard he used the scale to weigh his own drug purchases. There were approximately six glassine bags in the sunglass compartment with approximately three being blowout bags. Blowout bags are bags with one or two corners missing after they are used to package narcotics and ripped off. There was cash scattered on the passenger-side floorboard in small denominations. The cocaine was placed into an evidence bag.”

According to court documents, a total of five grams of cocaine valued at $500 was seized from the vehicle McGann was operating at the time of his arrest. The six Percocet pills were valued at $60 total.

Officer Johnson then spoke with the vehicle’s registered owner, a 30-year-old woman who resides in Orange, and asked her if she could come to the scene and pick up her vehicle to avoid towing it.

“She arrived shortly thereafter and took possession of the vehicle,” Officer Johnson said. “Officer Starbard transported McGann to Orange Police Department for booking.”

McGann was charged with:

1. Speeding Greater than the Posted Speed Limit
2. Operating a Motor Vehicle with License Suspended
3. Possess Open Container of Alcohol in Motor Vehicle
4. Possess Class B Drug (Crack Cocaine)
5. Possess Class B Drug (Percocet/Oxycodone)

His bail was set at $200.

“McGann produced the bail amount and was released from custody at approximately 1:45 a.m.,” Officer Johnson said.

McGann was arraigned in Orange District Court on Oct. 28, 2024.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from October, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.

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