Pubdate: Sat, 15 Jul 2006
Source: Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY)
Copyright: 2006 Orange County Publications
Contact:  http://www.th-record.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2544
Author: John Doherty
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

COPS SEEK SOURCES OF HEROIN

Newburgh - Bethann Cherry collapsed just inside the Newburgh Ministry 
homeless center. She was dead before an ambulance got her to St. 
Luke's up the street. It was three o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, and 
she was 37.

Kids found William Gondolfo, 53, stretched out in a dirty alley on 
Dubois Street on July 8. He was two blocks from the emergency room 
and had been dead for a while.

Both died after using a powerful batch of heroin now making its 
rounds in Newburgh, police believe.

"It's out there, and what we're trying to do is identify the source 
and stem the flow," said Lt. Santo Centamore. "Heroin is definitely back."

A third suspected fatal heroin overdose in May might or might not be 
related, Centamore said.

Like cocaine, the powdered heroin available in Newburgh is often 
diluted or cut with other chemicals by dealers, to stretch the 
supply. Police are investigating whether this particularly intense 
batch of heroin might be cut with a powerful painkiller.

Dealers also often mark bags of heroin with a word or logo so that 
users can return for the brand they prefer. Detectives think the 
heroin that allegedly felled Gondolfo and Cherry might be marked with 
a simple stamp: the outline of a witch.

"It's a little unclear, but that's what it looks like," said Centamore.

Detectives now have the daunting task of convincing drug users and 
suspected dealers to put aside their usual reluctance to tell them 
where the city's heroin is coming from - for their own safety.

Yesterday morning, detectives raided a rooming house at 165 Broadway on a tip.

There, on the second floor, they say they recovered 21 bags of heroin 
and arrested two people - although the bags of heroin bore no brand marking.

Arrested was 53-year-old Michael "Mint" Armstrong, who was charged 
with possession and felony attempting to sell a controlled substance; 
and Michelle Toth, 25, charged with possession of narcotics.

"We're relying on a lot of street information here," Centamore said. 
"And there's a lot of different sellers."

Both Cherry, who had a history of drug and prostitution arrests, and 
Gondolfo, whose arrest history runs more than 30 years, had been 
struggling to beat addiction as of late, police say.

Centamore said police believe Cherry had only recently been released 
from a rehabilitation program. Gondolfo, too, had been cleaning up 
recently, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman