By Jim Clark

While monitoring traffic on Broadway last Friday evening a police officer queried the registration of a passing vehicle and learned that the car’s owner had a revoked license.

The officer then activated his blue lights and pulled the car over.

As the officer approached the vehicle he noticed that the female passenger in the front seat and a male passenger in the back seat were moving as if they were about to exit the vehicle, according to reports. The officer told them to remain in the car while he questioned the driver of the car.

While speaking to the driver of the car the officer reportedly noted that the two passengers seemed to be very nervous and fidgety. As neither passenger was wearing a safety belt the officer asked for their names so that he could write them citations.

The front seat passenger identified herself as Katelyn Paquete and gave the officer a date of birth. The back seat passenger identified himself as Jonathan Berenson and likewise supplied a date of birth.

The officer then returned to his cruiser whereupon he called in a request for backup, as he felt it was possible that the two passengers might attempt to flee at any moment, police said.

As a result of a records query, it was learned that Berenson had several active warrants out for his arrest. The female passenger’s supplied name and birthdate yielded no record matches.

The officer returned to the car and asked the female if she had any form of identity in her possession. She then reportedly produced a wallet and as she looked through it the officer reportedly spotted a plastic straw and a small baggie, which he judged to be drug paraphernalia, based on his experience and training.

The officer then reportedly requested that the woman be truthful and tell him if there were drugs in the car. The woman then reportedly began to cry as she looked at her zippered wallet.

The officer reportedly retrieved 14 pills and a small quantity of what appeared to be crack cocaine from the woman’s wallet.

The officer determined that the pills were various dosages of Oxycodone.

When Berenson was asked to give the correct name and birthdate of the woman he reportedly tried four different times with negative results.

She was finally identified as Katelyn Paquet, 19, of Arlington, and was placed under arrest and charged with possession of a class B drug and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Jonathan Berenson, 23, of Malden, was also placed under arrest on warrant charges of forgery of check, larceny over $250, utter false check, operation of a motor vehicle with a suspended license, and receiving stolen property under $250.