Crime & Safety

Officers Find Man With 10 Syringes During Routine Traffic Stop, Reports Say

A local man and his passenger were arrested last week and accused of drug-related offenses.

said they pulled over a local man for a traffic stop last week only to find him with 10 syringes and a metal tin.

Officers arrested Robert M. Rizzuti, 21, of the 16400 block of South Olcott Avenue, around 7:30 p.m. March 8 near the intersection of 159th Street and Center Drive in . They charged him with possession of hypodermic needles and syringes, according to .

Police stopped Rizzuti after noticing that his license plate registration was expired, they said. Also, neither Rizzuti nor his passenger, Thomas J. Rizzuti, 23, of Oak Forest, were wearing their seat belts, police said.

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"Due to my prior police contacts with Michael, I knew him to be a heroin user," an officer wrote in the report. "I asked Thomas and Michael if there were any illegal items in the vehicle. The suspects advised that there was not."

While officers were searching the car, Thomas Rizzuti told them he had a "hitter box" and a "one hitter" in the center console of the vehicle that he was using to smoke marijuana, the report said.

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Michael Rizzuti told them he had hypodermic needles, police said. Officers found a plastic bag containing 10 syringes and a small Altoid tin on Michael Rizzuti, they said.

"The Altoid tin was charred on the bottom and contained two small Q-Tip heads," the report said.

In a written statement, Michael Rizzuti admitted to being a heroin user, according to police, but noted that he's been trying to quit. Both he and Thomas Rizzuti were cited for not wearing their seat belts. Thomas was additionally charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

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