Drug-related arrests on Keene's West St. prompt some concerns about police response

Aug. 18—After law-enforcement officers with weapons drawn arrested three men on drug charges outside a central Keene restaurant last week, some who witnessed the incident are questioning whether the police response was excessive.

Homeland Security Investigations and Keene police arrested Christopher Torruellas, Lamar Carter and Isaiah Wade on West Street on Aug. 11, according to an affidavit filed in Cheshire County Superior Court.

A little before 5 p.m. that Thursday, Keene police vehicles and an unmarked van surrounded a black pickup truck in the parking lot outside Cheshire Village Pizza, cellphone video footage a bystander shared with The Sentinel shows.

Several officers — most wearing tactical gear and wielding rifles — aimed their weapons at the truck for several minutes as police shouted orders for the three men to put their hands up and exit the vehicle, the video shows. The occupants complied, one by one walking backward toward police and getting on their knees before being handcuffed, according to the video footage.

Court documents indicate Torruellas, 39, of Jersey City, N.J., has been charged in Cheshire County Superior Court with possessing heroin with intent to sell, possessing crack cocaine, and possessing a firearm as a felon. Police found the gun, a Glock 40, wrapped in a T-shirt in the closet of a Keene hotel room rented by Torruellas, the affidavit written by Keene police Detective Jennifer Truman states. Judge Peter Bornstein has ordered him held without bail.

Law-enforcement officers arrested Carter and Wade on federal warrants for conspiracy narcotics charges, according to the affidavit. The charges against those two are not yet publicly available in the federal court system's online database, which Mary Ellen McMahon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Hampshire, said Wednesday could mean the charges have been filed under seal. She declined to comment further on the case, citing an ongoing investigation.

Douglass Robertson, the bystander who recorded video of the incident and shared it with The Sentinel, said he had just started his shift at the pizzeria when police pulled into the parking lot and surrounded the pickup truck.

"All together it was pretty alarming to see that level of force used," Robertson said. "... My question really has to be, was that level of police response necessary? To create a standoff in such a public space could have escalated really badly. I'm glad it didn't."

While the restaurant wasn't packed, he said there were people inside — including children and families — and others milling about on the sidewalks and at the gas station across the street. Gunfire in the area could have injured or killed someone, he said.

"Everyone was looking on in sort of curious horror with various degrees of seriousness," Robertson said. "Some were clearly upset; some were more like myself. The general vibe was pretty tense and confused."

Robertson — who questioned whether taxpayer money might be better spent on public schools, the city's growing issues with homelessness or on crimes like wage-theft than on tactical gear and weapons for Keene police — was not the only witness to raise concerns about the police response last week.

Maria Korfiatis said she had just turned onto Ashuelot Street when a bunch of police vehicles suddenly pulled into the parking lot at the intersection with West Street. One of them nearly hit her car, she said.

"I honestly thought they were overacting; unless they are being robbed at gunpoint it seemed like an overreaction," Korfiatis said of what she saw unfold. "I understand they are locking people up — why was there such a huge response? It didn't look like anything was happening."

Keene Police Chief Steven Russo did not return a phone request for comment or respond to questions sent by email Tuesday. Those questions included whether the department has any response to citizens' concerns about the incident and why the vehicle stop occurred in such a public area.

[Editor's note, Friday, Aug. 19: Keene Police Chief Steven Russo said Friday that an error with the department's email system prevented an email he sent to a reporter earlier in the week from delivering.

"There was nothing wrong with any of our actions during this investigation," Russo said in the email.

Citing an ongoing investigation, he declined to answer questions about citizens' concerns over the armed police response or why police executed the search warrant in such a public area.

"This would require investigative and operational information which we cannot discuss. We thoroughly plan such warrant service, leading to safer conclusions of the investigations."

He referred further questions to the U.S. Attorney's Office.]

A spokeswoman for Homeland Security Investigations confirmed the agency was involved in three arrests in Keene on Aug. 11 but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation. She referred questions to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Neither that office nor Homeland Security Investigations responded to emailed questions about citizens' concerns.

A day before the arrests, a judge had signed a search warrant for the pickup, according to the affidavit. As part of an investigation into "a significant surge with drug trafficking from out of state residents" over the past year, police executed that search on Aug. 11, pulling the vehicle over on West Street, Truman wrote in the court document.

During that investigation, which the affidavit says relies on confidential informants and sources of informants, law enforcement identified Carter as the leader of a crack cocaine distribution organization operating in Keene as well as several people working for him, Truman wrote.

Keene police received information that Carter was traveling to New Jersey on a weekly basis to resupply with kilos of cocaine and transporting the drug to Keene, where he or members of his organization manufactured it into crack cocaine, according to the affidavit. License-plate readers in Jersey City confirmed Carter's travel to and from New Jersey, the affidavit states.

Over the past several months, law enforcement have conducted nine controlled purchases of crack cocaine from Carter or a member of his organization, using a confidential informant or undercover agent, Truman wrote.

In August, a confidential informant provided law enforcement information regarding Carter and a "new runner" with the nickname "Twin" staying in Keene, according to the affidavit. On Aug. 9, Carter was surveilled entering New Hampshire on Route 10 and meeting with Torruellas, who is known to go by the alias "Twin" and has a twin brother incarcerated in Vermont, the documents state.

A confidential informant has met with Torruellas in Keene to purchase drugs, according to the affidavit. A search of a Keene hotel room rented by Torruellas turned up 48 grams of suspected heroin/fentanyl in addition to the gun, and police found 16 grams of crack cocaine on his person after his arrest, Truman wrote.

In 2014, Torruellas was sentenced in Cheshire County Superior Court to 66 days in jail on charges stemming from a high-speed chase that began in Brattleboro and ended in Westmoreland, according to previous reporting by The Sentinel. He was convicted of felony reckless conduct and two misdemeanors in that case.

Korfiatis said she had never seen anything like the police response in Keene last week. Officers seemed to be wearing "army gear," and some of the other witnesses in the vicinity appeared terrified, Korfiatis said. She questioned why police have not made any public statement about the situation in the days since.

"They overacted," she said. "It was probably something stupid. Even if it was a drug bust, unless the guy was like a serial killer or something, I don't know why the response would have been so extreme."

Ryan Spencer can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1412, or rspencer@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @rspencerKS