MANCHESTER

NH Police Chief Arrests Man in Park on Drug Charges

Manchester, New Hampshire Police Chief Carlo Capano's daily stroll through city parks led to the arrest of a man found drinking on a bench.

Capano, along with Assistant Chief Ryan Grant, were on their regular afternoon patrol of the city parks when they happened upon two adults consuming alcohol in Enright Park around 1:10 p.m. Thursday.

Aaron Brunelle, 31, and Rachel Bemis, 35, were sitting on a park bench with open containers of alcohol when the officers approached them. Capano noticed a blue straw with white powder inside of an open cigarette pack, which was located in plain sight on top of an open bag between Brunelle's legs.

Capano asked Brunelle about the items he observed, which prompted Brunelle to grab the cigarette pack and throw it in the trash.

While he was able to dump some of the contents out, a partially folded piece of paper -- also with a white powdery substance -- landed in front of the officers.

Capano recognized the substance to be cocaine and placed Brunelle under arrest.

Brunelle is facing charges for possession of a controlled drug and falsifying physical evidence. He's set to appear in Hillsborough County Superior Court on Friday. It's unclear if he has an attorney.

The blue straw was also found to have cocaine residue. Inside of a second cigarette pack, Capano discovered a glass pipe and a steel wool pad.

No charges were placed against Bemis, who was released from the scene.

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