Police Blotter for Feb. 28: Drug Arrest at Fairfield U.

The Fairfield Police Department's press briefing on Monday included the following cases. Arrest information does not indicate a conviction.

A 19-year-old Fairfield University student was arrested Friday night after she was found on campus in possession of marijuana, police said.

Police said a Fairfield U. public safety officer on patrol about 11 p.m. saw a Volkswagen Jetta parked in a lot outside Canisius Hall with three people in the car. When the public safety officer approached the car, he could smell an odor of marijuana, and a search of the car yielded a small bag of marijuana and two packages of cigar wrappers filled with marijuana, police said.

Emily Salem was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was released on a promise to appear March 7 in Bridgeport Superior Court. Her two companions, who were not students, were given criminal trespass warnings and escorted off campus, police said.

A 19-year-old Bridgeport man was arrested Friday on a warrant in the March 12 theft of laptop computers from BJ's Wholesale Club on lower Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield.

Ruben Mercedes-Valdez, of Yale Street, was charged with fifth-degree larceny. He was held in lieu of $10,000 bond and was scheduled to appear March 10 in Bridgeport Superior Court, police said.

Police said Mercedes-Valdez stole two HP 17” laptops, each valued at $699, from BJs.

A Fairfield man was arrested Friday on multiple drug charges after an unidentified caller reported that people were smoking marijuana at a house on Old Stratfield Road in Fairfield.

Officers who went to the home were met by Jordan Rodofsky, 48, police said. The officers could smell a strong odor of marijuana and asked Rodofsky if he had been smoking the drug, police said. Police said Rodofsky told officers he had just smoked a blunt.

Officers then asked if there was any other marijuana in the house and Rodofsky produced a large plastic bag with marijuana inside, police said. As officers began to arrest Rodofsky, he asked if he could take his anti-anxiety medicine and began to search through a backpack, police said. Officers noticed two prescription bottles of Oxycodone and numerous empty prescription bottles in the backpack, police said.

Rodofsky was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of narcotics with intent to sell. He was released on $1,000 bond and was scheduled to appear March 4 in Bridgeport Superior Court, police said.

A 30-year-old Bridgeport man was arrested Saturday after a fight at the Andros Diner on Villa Avenue in Fairfield, police said.

Police said they received a 911 call reporting a fight at the diner about 3 a.m., and arriving officers found a large group outside and a man bleeding from his head. Police said eyewitnesses told officers that a fight erupted in the diner after an unidentified man struck a woman in the face inside the diner and customers went to her aid. During the fight, dishes and other diner property were damaged, and the man with the head wound was struck from behind, police said.

Two people fled the scene on foot. One complied with officers’ instructions to stop while the second, William Gause, 30, of Denver Avenue in Bridgeport, engaged officers in pursuit. Officers ultimately arrested Gause on a charge of interfering with police and he was remanded into the custody of his parole officer and scheduled to appear March 4 in Bridgeport Superior Court, police said.

The man with the head wound did not want to press charges and was taken to Bridgeport Hospital. The woman who was struck did not have any injuries or marks, police said.

A 45-year-old Bridgeport man accused of shoplifting from Walgreen's on Villa Avenue in Fairfield on Saturday was arrested.

Police said Walgreen's security saw Joseph Carter, 45, of Park Avenue, run from the store about noon with merchandise stuffed in his shirt. They chased and captured him and found nine bottles of cough medicine valued at a total of $52 on him.

Carter was charged with sixth-degree larceny. He was released on a promise to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court on March 7, police said.

A 36-year-old Fairfield man was arrested Sunday after a fight with his wife at their Morehouse Highway home, police said.

Police said Justin Fuscaldo was having a conversation over dinner with his wife about parenting when the discussion turned physical. Fuscaldo twisted his wife's arm and put her in a headlock, and she received scratches and redness around her left wrist and neck but refused medical attention, police said.

Fuscaldo was charged with disorderly conduct. He was released on a promise to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court Monday, police said.

Tools and $4,000 cash were reported stolen from a van parked outside BJ's Wholesale Club on lower Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Friday.

The van's owner had parked in the east side of the store's lot and a passenger-side front door lock was popped to gain entry, police said.

Stolen items included a toolbox with tools inside valued at $500, a drill valued at $300 and a smaller drill valued at $200. The van owner estimated damage to the lock at $400, police said.

Four or five college-aged men trashed McDonald's on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield on Saturday night by throwing food and drinks all over the restaurant before fleeing in a car, police said.

The manager told officers that the men jumped into a gray Volvo and fled southbound on Black Rock Turnpike, police said.