Warren cops dig deeper to find evidence in drug investigation

Staff report

WARREN

Police had to dig deeper than usual Wednesday to obtain evidence for a possible drug charge.

The police department’s Street Crimes Unit went to a home in the 1000 block of Hollywood Street Northeast on Wednesday to serve a search warrant and found Eric J. Winters, 47, exiting a bathroom.

A detective entered the bathroom and saw the toilet was still “cycling from recently being flushed.”

Officers informed Winters they would be “checking the sewer pipes since Winters flushed the toilet when detectives arrived.”

They called for workers with the Warren Water Pollution Control Department to come to the scene to check the pipes, which they did with a live-feed camera. On the monitor, a detective could see a plastic baggie in the pipe with suspected crack cocaine inside. Sewer workers retrieved the baggie, and police logged it as evidence and took Winters to jail on a charge of felony tampering with evidence.

Warren police submit suspected drugs to a crime lab for identification before filing drug charges.