FLORENCIO Quitugua Richards, 42, was arrested by the Department of Public Safety after he was found in possession of methamphetamine or ice in the vehicle he was driving on Tuesday.
It was the wife of Richards who called the police following an argument at their apartment in Garapan behind Gold Beach Hotel.
She told police that Richards picked her up from work and that during the drive back he was giving her “attitude.”
At their apartment, while she was preparing to cook, she said Richards started opening cabinets and slamming them. She said he also slammed the bedroom door.
She said Richards went to the kitchen area and started throwing pots around and accused her of having a boyfriend at work.
She said she told Richards to go and stay at his parents. Richards then went to the parking lot and told his wife to come down to the car.
She told police that she was worried that Richards might do something to her so she called 911. At that time, Richards had already left the area.
A responding police officer heading south who heard the call regarding a domestic disturbance saw the vehicle Richards was driving taking a right turn to Kilili Beach park.
The police officer followed Richards and pulled behind the car Richards was driving.
As the officer approached the vehicle, he said he saw Richards lean forward and shove something under the seat.
The officer asked Richards to get out of the vehicle. Richards told the officer that he and his wife had an argument because he did not wash the dishes in the sink.
According to the officer, Richards then gave his consent to search his vehicle.
Two other police officers conducted a search of his vehicle and found under the floor mat “a plastic container with a clear cover” containing small Ziploc bags “with crystalline substance and several cut up straws that contained a crystalline substance.”
Richards denied owning the Ziploc bag, adding that “plenty people used his car.”
Using the Narcotics Identification Kit, police said the crystalline substance tested positive for methamphetamine.
Richards was charged with one count of illegal possession of a controlled substance and disturbing the peace.
On Thursday, he appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan who imposed a $50,000 cash bail.
At the hearing, Assistant Public Defender Jean Nogues was appointed by the court to represent Richards while Assistant Attorney General Coleen St. Claire appeared for the government.
Judge Bogdan remanded Richards to the custody of the Department of Corrections after the hearing and ordered him to return to court on May 12 at 9 a.m. for preliminary hearing, and on May 18 at 9 a.m. for his arraignment.
In August 2011, the federal court sentenced Richards to 24 months in prison for distributing “ice” while still an active police officer.
A participant of the federal court’s Drug Offender Re-entry Program, his supervised release was revoked in 2014 and 2017 for using “ice.”
Florencio Richards
