City man arrested on drug possession charges
WOONSOCKET — A city man was remanded to the state prison as a probation violator Monday after police arrested him on charges of possessing a pharmaceutical opioid. A District Court judge set bail for Randy Fernandes on the drug charge, but the 26-year-old resident of 560 Winter St. was held at the Adult Correctional Institutions for violating his probation on a 2018 breaking and entering conviction, according to the judiciary’s website.
Fernandes was arrested about 3:30 a.m. Sunday after a policeman saw him tugging on the front door of Blackstone Apartments, 23 Clinton St., according to police reports. Officer Sergio Pratt said Fernandes was also carrying a Victoria’s Secret purse that he claimed belonged to a female relative.
Fernandes claimed the purse held “winning lottery tickets” and invited Pratt to look for himself. But when Fernandes opened the purse to display the tickets, the officer noticed something else – a clear plastic bag that allegedly contained 20 doses of Suboxone.
Also known by its generic name buprenorphine, Suboxone is a regulated pharmaceutical that’s supposed to be prescribed by doctors to treat the symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
Fernandes claimed he had a prescription for the drug, but he was apparently unable to produce it.
He was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance.
During an initial appearance in District Court on Monday, a judge set bail at $5,000 with surety on the felony, but state prosecutors also charged him with violating his probation on the 2018 conviction for breaking and entering. He was sentenced to five years probation on the latter charge in January, not including about two months credit for time he served at the ACI while the charge was pending, according to the Department of Corrections database.
He is due back in court on Nov. 13 for a violation hearing.