A would-be car thief on Cape Cod ended up handing police a major drug case instead, authorities say. Barnstable police say the chain of events started on Jan. 6, when a man called to report he'd found a package of drugs on the side of the road, per the Boston Globe. Under questioning, he's said to have somewhat shifted his story: The cocaine wasn't roadside, he said, but in the trunk of a Kia he'd broken into while trying—and failing—to steal the car from a private commuter lot in Hyannis. After prying open the steering column with a screwdriver but not being able to start the vehicle, the man told officers he popped the trunk, found a Target bag with a duct-taped package inside, realized it was drugs, "got scared," and went to police.
Detectives traced the car to its owner, Edward Gillespie, 62, of Nantucket, and got a warrant to monitor the vehicle, according to police. On Jan. 8, they say surveillance cameras captured Gillespie repeatedly opening the trunk, checking the spare tire compartment where the drugs had been, pacing while making a phone call, and then tearing apart the tire well. Officers moved in and arrested him on a charge of trafficking more than 200g of cocaine. Gillespie denied knowing there were drugs in his car and told officers that if anything illegal was there, he hadn't put it there, police say.
However, a subsequent search of Gillespie's home—assisted by the US Coast Guard and the Cape Cod DEA's office, per Boston 25 News—turned up more narcotics and cash, according to police: roughly 2.5 pounds of cocaine, 2.4 ounces of amphetamine pills, and about $10,000. Investigators allege Gillespie had been preparing to move the coke from Hyannis to Nantucket. Barnstable police say they expect to pursue additional charges in Nantucket District Court tied to the drugs seized from the residence. The man who reported the cocaine hasn't been publicly identified, and it's not clear if he faces any charges for the attempted car theft.
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