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Law and Order: Washington Avenue man accused of smoking crack in vestibule of Sheriff's Office

By Billie Owens

Chad Michael Johnston, 34, of Washington Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree -- a stimulant. At 1:07 a.m. on Jan. 14 Johnston was arrested. He was observed by Genesee County Emergency dispatchers in the vestibule of the Sheriff's Office on Park Road in Batavia. While there, he was allegedly observed on video footage using a lighter in the corner. Upon further investigation, he was allegedly found in possession of seven baggies of crack cocaine. It was also found that Johnston allegedly used the lighter to light a glass pipe to smoke the crack cocaine while inside the vestibule. He was held in county jail and arraigned at 9 o'clock the same morning in Batavia City Court. Bail, if any, or status not provided. The case was handled by Deputy Jacob Gauthier, assisted by Sheriff James Stack.

Tawnya L. Muscato, 30, no address provided, of Batavia, is charged with: driving while ability impaired by drugs; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree; criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree; and speeding. She was arrested by the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office after a traffic stop on Route 98 at School Street in the Town of Sheldon on Dec. 27. Moscato was stopped for allegedly speeding -- driving at 56 mph in a 35-mph zone -- on Route 20A. During the traffic stop she was allegedly found to possess five bags of suspected fentanyl and multiple pieces of drug use and packaging paraphernalia. In addition, she allegedly performed poorly on roadside sobriety testing and was taken to the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office for processing. While there, a Drug Recognition Expert from Warsaw Police Department evaluated her and allegedly determined Moscato was impaired by drugs and unable to drive a vehicle safely. She was released to a sober third party after being issued appearance tickets to be in Town of Sheldon Court Jan. 11. The case was handled by Sgt. Colin Reagan.

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