Guns, Drugs, and a Toddler on Union Street

A random traffic stop downtown has turned into a load of trouble for one Concord couple recently.

Danielle Parisi, 25, of Concord, and Ryan Stetzler, 28, of Concord, were arrested at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 26, and charged endangering the welfare of a child/incompetent. Stetzler was also charged with unauthorized registration stickers.

According to an arrest and court proceedings, while eyeing traffic on South Main Street near the Red River Theatres at around 6 a.m. on the day in question, an officer ran a plate on a 2003 Subaru Legacy and the registration came up as expired in June 2013.

The vehicle was pulled over at the intersection of North Main and Centre streets.

The operator, Stetzler, reportedly told that the officer that he didn’t have possession of his license and had left his wallet at his apartment. He stated that a passenger in the car, Parisi, his girlfriend, “had been throwing up, so they picked up some saltine crackers at Hannaford” and during the rush, forgot his wallet. Stetzler reportedly told they officer that they lived on Union Street and he could follow them home and check his license. The officer noted that the registration and inspection stickers on the Subaru appeared current.

At the apartment, Stetzler reportedly went up to get his license and the officer asked Parisi about the child seat in the car. She reportedly stated the two had a 4-year-old daughter together who was upstairs sleeping in the one-bedroom apartment. The officer asked what would have happened had the daughter woke up with no one there and her answer was redacted in the report.

Stetzler reportedly returned with his license but was unable to find the car registration. He went to look in the car but the officer told him not to bother since DMV was showing that it expired last year.

The officer called for backup since the child allegedly being left alone would render an arrest and a sergeant and another officer arrived at the scene. They went upstairs to check on the girl who was “well and was in the apartment alone, still asleep,” the officer alleged.

At the car, the officer looked at the plates and stated that it looked like the stickers had been taken off another vehicle. When asked about this, Stetzler allegedly admitted that he bought the stickers from someone else because he couldn’t afford to register the car.

The officer asked about where they were actually coming from, since Hannaford was not near South Main Street. He reportedly stated that they bought the saltines at the Hess station on Hall Street. The officer asked if they were in such a hurry, why didn’t he go to stores on North Main Street to buy the crackers, and Stetzler allegedly stated that Parisi was sick after visiting the methadone clinic on Hall Street.

The officer went up to the apartment to speak with Parisi and found that the stories weren’t connecting between the two and requested to search the car. Stetzler reportedly consented to a search while at the same time, police upstairs were finding things around the apartment, including “a loaded firearm, several other loaded magazines as well as various amounts of additional ammunition,” and all involved ceased their activity and filed for a search warrant.

Both were then arrested and later, released on personal recognizance bail with a court date on Feb. 27.

A grandparent reportedly took possession of the child. DCYF was also notified, according to reports.

Court arraignment

On Feb. 27, in Concord District Court, both Parisi and Stetzler were arraigned the same day as Scott Diberto’s probable cause hearing in the alleged beating of a baby.

A prosecutor stated they were released on personal recognizance bail but that she wanted it revised due to follow-up investigations by police. She requested an immediate arraignment and that after police obtained a search warrant, they allegedly found used hypodermic needles in a mattress and one in the trash as well as knives and the handgun, under a pillow, all within reach of the child. Four clean needles were also allegedly found along with a spoon with residue on a table and marijuana buds in a Tupperware container. Smoking devices and a digital scale were also allegedly found.

“The child had access to all these areas,” the prosecutor alleged.

Parisi shook her head in court while she was sobbing.

The prosecutor alleged that during conversation with the girl, she reportedly knew where the weapons and ammunition were in the apartment.

“The state has a concern for the public,” she said.

Previous arrests

Parisi, according to online reports, has had a couple of run-ins with the law.

According to the Concord Monitor, in May 2011, Parisi, who was living in Auburn, was arrested and charged with simple assault, allegedly against her boyfriend in an apartment on Horseshoe Pond Lane. Two years before, that, according to the Eagle Tribune, she was arrested on a possession of a controlled drug charge in Salem in June 2009.