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Backcountry Greenwich Man Taken Down In Heroin Arrest, Stamford Police Say

STAMFORD, Conn. -- A backcountry Greenwich man was grabbed from his SUV and pushed to the ground in a brief struggle with Stamford police officers during an arrest Wednesday that turned up heroin, police said.

Christopher Ceci, 25, of 121 Lower Cross Road, Greenwich, is facing drug charges after police said they found 4.9 grams of heroin after they stopped him while driving on East Main Street in Stamford Wednesday afternoon.

Christopher Ceci, 25, of 121 Lower Cross Road, Greenwich, is facing drug charges after police said they found 4.9 grams of heroin after they stopped him while driving on East Main Street in Stamford Wednesday afternoon.

Photo Credit: Stamford Police Department

Christopher Ceci, 25, of 121 Lower Cross Road, was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia, interfering with an officer, possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana, failure to keep narcotics in an open container, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and sale of illegal drugs.

Officers were patrolling an area of Lawn Avenue known drug activity when they saw a black 2010 GMC SUV pull up, said Sgt. Kelly Connelly. A man got out of the vehicle, walked up a stairway on the south side of the housing complex and came out shortly afterward, police said.

Officers followed his car and noticed that he wasn't wearing a seat belt, police said. They stopped the car on East Main Street near Quintard Terrace, police said. 

The two officers approached the vehicle with one speaking to Ceci while the other officer was going around to the passenger side, police said.

"He was real cooperative and starts to get his license and registration," she said. The second officer saw a metal spoon with a white powdery residue on it in the area of the front seat, police said. She said the officer noticed that Ceci moved a book bag to hide the spoon from view.

Ceci told the officers he was visiting a friend named James who lived on Lawn Avenue but remember the unit, police said. He also told them James wasn't home so he left, police said. 

When asked about the spoon, Ceci said he didn't know what spoon they were talking about and then said he had been eating apple sauce and yogurt and that the white residue was from the yogurt, Connelly said.

"At this point he starts to get nervous, he starts to uncontrollably shake and he starts to show signs of labored breathing," she said.

They then asked him twice to exit the vehicle, but he declined, said he didn't believe the request was justified and said he would call his lawyer, she said.

One officer then saw an open red pocket knife with the blade exposed on the driver's side floor by Ceci's feet, prompting the officers to take action, Connelly said.

"That's enough for them, they get him out of car, they get him down to the ground. Now they don't ask anymore, they just take him out of the car," she said. "They asked him once, they asked him twice and now you're coming out."

Ceci didn't willingly submit to the officers, she said.

"There was a short struggle with him, but then they were able to place him in handcuffs," she said.

A total of 15 folds of suspected heroin, a syringe, a metal lighter and other items were discovered in his possession, police said. In total, police said he had 4.9 grams of heroin.

The backpack contained eight white oval-shaped pills that Ceci said he takes for anxiety, police said. However, he didn't have a prescription for the pills and he was charged for that, police said.

"The officers did a great job. This was a good arrest," Connelly said.

He was released on $25,000 bond and scheduled to appear in court March 25.

The officers also gave him a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt, Connelly said.

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