MANCHESTER, NH – Joseph Murphy, 23, of Manchester was arrested by police twice within eight hours, once for drug possession and the second time for prowling.
On Oct. 26 at about 5 p.m. officers Din Jenkins and Jonathan Duchesne were patrolling near Victory Park when they observed a car involved in a traffic violation. They pulled over the vehicle, driven by Murphy, in front of 455 Pine St., an address known to police for drug activities.
As Officer Jenkins approached the car he observed Murphy reaching down toward the floor of the car. After receiving consent to search, Officer Jenkins located a small quantity of crack cocaine inside of a Ziploc bag in the same area Murphy had reached for earlier. Murphy was charged with falsifying physical evidence and possession of a controlled drug, and taken into custody without incident.
Just after midnight on October 27, a few hours after Murphy was released by police for the drug arrest, officers responded to the area of 360 Kelley St., near CCM & Supply, for a burglary that occurred at 11:30 p.m. Upon arrival, officers spoke with the business owner who reported a loud noise caused him to leave his house, located behind his business, to investigate the noise.
The business owner told police he saw someone flee from the rear of the store while he was checking for damage. He located a broken window and also gave the officers a description of the suspect who had fled the scene. He described the burglar as a thin white male wearing glasses, a green T-shirt, a white long-sleeved undershirt and dark-colored pants.
At approximately 1 a.m., officers located a male matching the description of the burglar in the area of 56 Laval St. who was identified by police as Joseph Murphy.
Murphy told police he allegedly tried to break into CCM & Supply because he was hungry and knew the business had food inside. He was charged with loitering/prowling (because he had no specific reason for being in the area at that hour) and burglary.
Murphy was arraigned Monday morning at District Court in Manchester.