By Carolyn Cronin and Steve Klamkin WPRO News
Somerset Police have arrested one of their own officers on charges of larceny by false pretenses under $250 and drug possession.
According to a statement issued by Chief of Police Joseph C. Ferreira, Officer Ricardo Pavao was in uniform and on duty Sunday when he entered apartments at the North Farm Estates and used a ruse to collect emergency contact information and expired prescription medication from residents.
Police say they were alerted to the situation when a resident reported to them that he had given incorrect information to Officer Pavao. The department then launched an intensive, two-day investigation which included interviews with numerous residents of the County Street housing complex. Investigators found prescription drugs and other evidence in Pavao’s police locker and personal vehicle.
The drugs involved were Class E and Class C, described by Massachusetts law as prescription narcotics and tranquilizers, although a statement from the Somerset Police was not more specific.
Pavao surrendered Wednesday at District Court in Fall River, and was released for a pre-trial conference March 28.
Chief Ferreira placed Pavao on administrative leave and ordered him to surrender all firearms, badges and police identification. He was stripped of access to the Somerset Police Department.
