Crime & Safety

County Police Find 5,900 Packets of Heroin with K-9 Help

They arrested a Connecticut woman who was driving through New Rochelle March 6.

A traffic stop last night on the Hutchinson River Parkway turned into a heroin bust after county police called in a drug-sniffing dog. 

Here's the full statement from Westchester County Police Public Information Officer Kieran O'Leary:

Westchester County Police on Thursday night arrested a Connecticut woman and seized $59,000 worth of heroin following a traffic stop on the Hutchinson River Parkway in New Rochelle.

Officers from the Patrol Task Force stopped a Honda Accord that was being driven erratically about 11:45 p.m. Thursday night near Wilmot Road.


The driver was extremely nervous and gave conflicting information to officers about her travel in the area.

A county police narcotics detection canine, Suki, was brought to the scene. Suki did an exterior sweep of the vehicle and indicated on the presence of narcotics. A subsequent search of the car turned up 5,900 envelopes of heroin hidden in the trunk.

The heroin has an estimated street value of $59,000.

Leslie Dawkins, 25, of Waterbury was taken into custody and booked at county police headquarters in Hawthorne on a charge of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree (Intent to Sell), felonies.

Dawkins was held overnight and arraigned today in New Rochelle City Court. She was remanded to the Westchester County Jail without bail.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.