A New York City man was arrested and $50,000 worth of heroin was recovered by police Wednesday after a car chase from Northampton to Whately.
George Flores was arrested after fleeing State Police in Northampton on multiple traffic violations and for possessing roughly 112 grams of heroin with intent to distribute.
Flores was arraigned Thursday in Greenfield District Court and held on $500,000 cash bail. Besides drug trafficking charges, Flores was charged with driving after suspension of his license, negligent driving, marked-lane violations and failure to stop for police.
A tip regarding an illegal narcotics sale led Northwestern District Anti-Crime Task Force members and State Police to attempt to stop a vehicle at 5 p.m. on King Street in Northampton. Police had information that the driver, Flores, was allegedly transporting a large quantity of heroin to Whately from New York City.
Flores, 36, who had a suspended drivers license, did not stop and fled from police, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
During the chase that followed, he was allegedly seen tossing a package out of the passenger window, Whately Police reported on the department’s Facebook page. The package contained heroin, according to police.
Police pursued the vehicle through Hatfield and into Whately, where a town police officer deployed tire deflation devices known as “stop sticks,” according to police. They said Flores’ left front tire struck the “stop sticks” and deflated, ending the pursuit just south of Christian Lane.
Flores was taken into custody with no injuries, police said, and a suspected 112 grams of uncut heroin, $2,000 and two cell phones were recovered.
Mary Carey, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said the suspected heroin thrown from the vehicle would fill over 5,000 bags when packaged for distribution in Franklin and Hampshire counties. She said it would have a street value of more than $50,000.
“This investigation and arrest demonstrate the effectiveness and versatility of the task force,” said Jeremy Bucci, chief trial counsel in the district attorney’s office. “The force was able to effectively allocate the manpower needed to investigate this alleged drug trafficking activity swiftly, lawfully and without regard to jurisdictional boundaries that would hamper individual departments.”
Flores is being held at the Franklin County Jail and is scheduled to return to court Sept. 27.
Sarah Crosby can be reached at scrosby@gazettenet.com.