Naugatuck police arrest woman on drug, weapon charges following crash

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By Elio Gugliotti, Editor

Naugatuck police seized the drugs and handgun shown with the help of the department’s drug-detecting K9 Judge after a one-car crash Sunday morning. -CONTRIBUTED

NAUGATUCK — A 30-year-old New Haven woman is facing numerous drug and weapon charges after police say she had crack cocaine, heroin and a handgun on her when she crashed into a building at the intersection of Cherry and Scott streets Sunday morning.

Police said a 2005 black Buick LaCrosse crashed into the Cherry Street Market at 94 Cherry St. shortly before 7:15 a.m., and the driver fled on foot toward Rubber Avenue. Officers searched the area and found the driver, Shannon B. Mosca, of New Haven, in the parking lot of the Naugatuck Portuguese Club at 110 Rubber Ave.

Deputy Chief C. Colin McAllister said officers, with the help of Judge, a police dog trained in drug detection, found 61 grams of crack and 129 bags of heroin on Mosca and in the Buick. A bag of heroin is about equal to a dose of heroin, he said.


(Naugatuck police released this video of the crash.)

Police said Mosca also had a handgun in her purse and ammunition. The handgun’s serial number was obliterated and police are continuing to investigate how she obtained it. Mosca is barred from possessing firearms due to a felony conviction.

Court records indicate Mosca was charged by Hamden police with illegally firing a gun and risk of injury to a minor in 2019. She was convicted last year and was sentenced to two years of probation. She also has convictions for harassment, interfering with an officer, failure to appear in court, threatening and violating her probation, among others.

Shannon B. Mosca

No one was hurt in the crash, McAllister said, and Mosca owns the Buick.

“The officers involved in this investigation should be commended for their hard work as the Naugatuck Police Department remains committed to the elimination of these harmful narcotics and illegal firearms from the streets of our community,” police said in a news release.

Mosca was charged with multiple crimes, including criminal possession of a firearm, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, illegal alteration of firearm identification, carrying a pistol without a permit, possession of drugs with intent to sell and possession of a controlled substance.

Mosca was held on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear March 31 in Waterbury Superior Court.