By Jim Clark

On Friday, December 20, Somerville Police officers were dispatched to the Mobil gas station at 360 Medford St. on reports of a drug related offense.

Officers located the suspect, later identified as John Aceto, and held inside the gas station as they investigated the situation.

A man, who is a crossing guard for the city of Somerville and was the reporting party, stated that he saw Aceto walk up to a high school student and sell him drugs.

The reporting party then stated that he stopped the student and asked him what he just bought and the student showed him a small glassine bag of a brown powder substance, which was about the size of a dime.

The reporting party let the student leave the area and followed Aceto to the gas station, after which he informed police of what he saw.

The police officers asked Aceto to remove his hands from his pockets so they could see them. He reportedly stated that he did not have anything and would not remove his hands.

The officers then ordered him to take his hands out of his pockets, at which time he complied while stating that he had something in his pocket.

An officer conducted a pat search of Aceto and felt some objects in both pockets of his pants. In his right pocket he had a cell phone and a plastic ID card, and in his left pocket he had two lighters, a small plastic green straw, and a piece of foil that was folded.

When the officer took the objects out of Aceto’s pocket they fell on the ground. The officer picked up the objects and asked Aceto what he had on him because he did not see anything.

Aceto reportedly stated that it was heroin and it was on the floor near the officer’s foot. The officer picked up the folded piece of foil and found a small bag with a brown powdered substance inside it, which the officers believed to be heroin.

Aceto was subsequently placed under arrest on a charge of possession of a class A drug.