Tamaqua police report on drug arrests

Tamaqua police reported on the following drug arrests:

• A report about a suspicious vehicle in the area of the Dutch Hill ball fields in Tamaqua on March 21 led to citations for three juveniles.

Borough police received a call at 4:48 p.m. about a blue Hyundai parked near the fields on Biddle Street. Officers found three teens, 16 and 15-year-old males and a 15-year-old female, in the process of rolling a marijuana blunt.

A search of the vehicle found additional marijuana in the car.

All three were cited for possession of marijuana and released into the custody of their parents.

• Jimmy Lee Garcia, 29, of Allentown, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia after he was found inside a vacant home on East Elm Street on March 22. Garcia told officers he was “checking out” the property after seeing it was for sale on a Realtor site. There were no Realtor signs on the property, just a posted notice from 2016 concerning a county tax sale. A records check on Garcia discovered an outstanding felony arrest warrant for drug delivery issued by the Lehigh County Drug Task Force. The odor of burned marijuana wafted from Garcia’s Nissan, which led to a search of the vehicle. Three bags of marijuana, a partially smoked marijuana cigarette and a bag containing suspected cocaine were all found in the Nissan.

He was transferred to the custody of Lehigh County officials.

• Thomas A. Tessitore, 36, of Tamaqua, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and public drunkenness after police received a call about an unconscious man in the 400 block of East Broad Street at 5:40 p.m. on March 30.

The area was clear when officers arrived but a review of surveillance video identified Tessitore as the man who had been on the ground, vomiting. He was found a short time later and appeared to be under the influence of some type of narcotic. He was searched and officers found six wax packets containing white residue. He told police the packets contained heroin but a field test indicated the residue was actually fentanyl.