Woman tries to sell broken chunks of spark plug as cocaine, chief says
A Springdale Township woman tried to pass off broken-up porcelain bits of a spark plug as crack cocaine,?Leechburg?police Chief Mike Diebold said.
Diebold said police believe a fight ensued between Anna Marie Mazzetti, 29, and a prospective customer, a New Kensington man, outside of Dizzy's Place on Market Street on Wednesday night when he realized the crack wasn't real.
Police responding to reports of a fight in the parking lot told Mazzetti she was under arrest and, when she tried to run away, a Gilpin officer used a Taser on her, Diebold said.
Mazzetti was taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison to be checked out after being stopped by the Taser and for treatment of a bloody nose she suffered when she fell to the ground, according to Diebold.
At the hospital, Diebold said, Mazzetti tried to hide a crack pipe under a sink.
Mazzetti is facing charges of public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, giving false identification to law enforcement, resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a look-alike controlled substance and tampering with evidence.
She was expected to be arraigned last night after being released from the hospital.
The chief said the man, who is known to Leechburg police, got away. It was not known last night if he would be charged with any offense.
Diebold said Mazzetti met the man in the bar. Neighbors reported a fight between a man and a woman in the parking lot, and police were called at about 6:45 p.m.
Diebold said Mazzetti gave officers a false name. The chief said he saw what appeared to be a bag of crack cocaine on the center console of the car Mazzetti was driving. He said she told police it contained baking soda, not cocaine.
Police chased her for about a half block before stopping her with a Taser.
Diebold said resisting arrest, including by running away, is a justifiable reason for an officer to use a Taser. He said it is preferable to using physical force to stop someone, which can result in injury.
Diebold said Mazzetti had unbroken spark plugs in her purse.
