Crack Found in the Home of Former Town of Avon Employee Following West Hartford Home Invasion

In the minutes after Jose Santiago was pistol-whipped on Feb. 28 in the basement of his West Hartford home by two men posing as meter readers, he apparently had to think quickly.

His wife, Miosotys, 26, and their two young children were upstairs. The suspects, who were each wearing blue coveralls and fluorescent orange vests, were gone. And the were on their way.

Santiago went up to the kitchen, dripping blood. At the front door, there was a significant amount of blood, police said. Then he apparently went upstairs and headed straight for the the crib where his 1-month-old daughter sleeps. His infant was safe with Miosotys; so was another daughter, 6 years old.

And so was nearly 10 ounces of crack cocaine until police conducted a search.

The cocaine was hidden in the crib beneath some stuffed animals, police said in a court affidavit. It was worth an estimated $10,000, police said, and possibly twice that much on the street.

The drugs were the target of the intruders, police said.

With television cameras gathering to cover what seemed at first West Hartford’s second home invasion in less than two months, West Hartford police Capt. Joseph Lasata dispelled that theory.

“This attack was not random,” he said.

In a matter of hours on Monday, Santiago, a former town of Avon worker, went from a brutalized victim to handcuffs.

The crack was packaged inside a blood-splattered book bag, according to the affidavit. Police also found 12 grams of marijuana, a bottle with a substance allegedly used to dilute drugs, a digital scale and a sifter.

“It appears that [Santiago] is in fact a major drug trafficker,” detectives said in the affidavit.

Santiago faces multiple narcotics charges, including possession with intent to sell more than a half-ounce of cocaine, which carries a potential mandatory minimum sentence of five to 20 years.

Santiago was arraigned Tuesday in Hartford Superior Court and was released on $250,000 bond. He is also accused of operating a drug factory, drug possession within 1,500 feet of a school, marijuana possession and two counts of risk of injury to a child. He is scheduled to return to court March 10.

When questioned, Santiago told detectives he was recently fired from his public works job in Avon because of a DUI offense. William Vernile, Avon’s director of human resources, said Santiago was hired in August 2008 and resigned Jan. 3.

Santiago, who police say has an extensive arrest record, has been collecting about $2,000 a month from state unemployment insurance, according to state labor records.

While Santiago was at Hartford Hospital receiving treatment for head wounds, police said Miosotys Santiago gave permission for a search. Police said Miosotys did not appear to have any information about a robbery motive.

Police suspect much of Santiago’s “high-end” personal property inside his home was acquired through trafficking. There were also four vehicles at 78 Levesque Ave., including a work truck and a vintage car, police said.

“It appears that much of his personal property has been paid for in large measure by his illegal drug trafficking,” detectives said in the affidavit.

Santiago, who denied the attempted robbery was connected to drugs, told police there was $15,000 in a safe in the master bedroom.

But police followed more than a money trail. They followed the blood.

After Santiago was duped by the men posing as utility workers, he led them to the basement, police said. Santiago explained to investigators that he was told to “get on the floor, you know the drill.” When he tried to escape, he was beaten by the suspects, who were described by police as Hispanic men in their 30s. The gun went off as he was pistol-whipped, polic said.

Police followed a trail of blood up to the kitchen and to the front door. The trail continued upstairs and into a bedroom with the baby’s crib. A K-9 unit was called in and, once in the upstairs hallway, went straight for the crib, police said.