By Scott Waldman, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Oct. 4–BETHLEHEM — A noisy scooter ride led police to a suspected drug operation on a quiet suburban street.
Officers seized heroin, cocaine, marijuana, Ecstasy and pills along with $4,700 in cash, digital scales and a weapons cache on Sept. 27 after one of the residents at 7 Snowden Ave. irritated his neighbors by zipping around the avenue on the motor scooter, according to records filed on the case in Town Court.
Matthew T. Schillinger, 21, was charged with eight felonies and several misdemeanors and sent to the Albany County jail. On Friday, the 21-year-old paving company laborer was released after he posted $75,000 bail. He is due back in court Oct. 16.
Lt. Thomas M. Heffernan Jr. said the arrest resulted in the largest seizure of drugs in Bethlehem in recent memory.
Town Supervisor Jack Cunningham expressed surprise at the extent of the alleged drug enterprise.
Police and court records give this account of the arrest:
When Patrolman Steve Kraz responded to the complaint, he spotted the scooter parked on the porch of the Snowden Avenue duplex. No one answered his knock on the front door or responded when he announced himself, but he detected the scent of marijuana and heard male voices inside.
Kraz walked in and saw Christopher Zawodny-Brownell, 21, counting a stack of money. Police obtained a search warrant signed by Town Justice Ryan Donovan. Police removed a padlock on Schillinger’s bedroom where they found a machete, a shotgun and ammunition, body armor, a police scanner and drug paraphernalia. They also found a black plastic bag containing the drugs in a closet.
An ounce of heroin, 2.11 ounces of cocaine, 2.69 pounds of marijuana, 1.28 grams of Oxycodone pain pills and 3.75 grams of Ecstasy were confiscated.
Zawodny-Brownell was charged with criminal possession of marijuana.
On Wednesday, a neighbor recalled seeing a constant stream of cars coming and going from the home at odd hours of the day and night. Others said they were perplexed to learn of an alleged drug operation on their street.
Eleanor Henion, who is 86 and has lived on Snowden Avenue for almost a half-century, recalled her shock at seeing a young man led out of the home on her street in handcuffs.
“We had no idea anything was going on at all,” said Henion, who described her neighborhood as a place where people help one another. “You just don’t expect anything like that.”
Citing the ongoing investigation, Heffernan declined to identify Schillinger’s suspected customer base or whether a computer taken in the raid contained any evidence.
Waldman can be reached at 454-5080 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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