Mass State Police Arrest Two For Firearms, Drug Trafficking

It never ends, does it? Recently two people were arrested, one of them a 16-year-old, when the end result of a traffic stop on I-91 last Tuesday turned out to be much, much more.

Massachusetts State Police report that last Tuesday, March 22, at approximately 3 in the afternoon, a State Trooper assigned to the Northampton barracks, Tyler Hersom, while patrolling I-91 in Whately, stopped a vehicle that had no front or rear license plates.

Once Trooper Hersom fully stopped the vehicle, he noticed five occupants inside. Hersom made contact with the driver of the vehicle, 35-year-old Dylan Graskey of Shaftsbury, Vermont, and notified him why he was stopped.

Trooper Hersom, after speaking with other occupants in the vehicle, requested additional assistance when he noticed suspicious behavior and inconsistent stories. Backup units arrived on the scene and eventually, a State Police K-9 was deployed to sniff the outside of the vehicle.

While the K-9 was performing his duty, the passengers were removed from the vehicle. Once the K-9 was finished, they were allowed to reenter. As the front seat passenger opened his door, Trooper Hersom clearly observed some white rectangular packaging in plain view under the passenger seat. It was immediately noticed to be consistent with the packaging of heroin.

The occupants were then momentarily detained for a full vehicle search. Troopers recovered two different pistols, over 1,100 stamped wax paper folds containing a substance officers believed to be heroin, and around 35 grams of a substance believed to be crack cocaine.

Two men were placed under arrest, Graskey and a 16-year-old juvenile from Springfield, and transported to the Northampton barracks for booking. Bail was set at $200,000 for Graskey and $100,000 for the juvenile. The other three occupants of the vehicle were criminally summonsed and will be arraigned at a later date.

Graskey and the juvenile were arraigned on numerous charges, including:

• Trafficking in Heroin
• Trafficking in Cocaine
• Illegal Possession of a Firearm, two counts
• Carrying a Loaded Firearm, two counts

For more on the story, visit the Massachusetts State Police news website here.