Bike Rider Arrested with 12 Bags of Heroin in Belleville

A Bloomfield man was arrested in Belleville with 12 bags of heroin after police observed him erratically ride a bike through traffic, police said.

Belleville police said that on Sunday, Sept. 1, officers saw a man in khaki shorts and a gray t-shirt loitering on a bike near a Franklin Ave. housing development. Police say he left rode out onto street, where he swerved erratically and barely escaped getting hit by a vehicle.

Police said that when they approached the man, later identified as Thomas Dockery, 40, of Bloomfield, he left his hands in his pockets and claimed he was coming from Clara Maass hospital before telling officers he had “two bags of dope.”

Police said that when he was arrested and searched, Dockery was found to have a total of 12 glassine envelopes filled with heroin. He reportedly tested positive for being under the influence of heroin.

Police charged him with possession of a controlled deadly substance and held him on a $30,000 bail.