A 26 year-old Branford man was charged with drug possession, possession of burglary tools and possession of drug paraphernalia after police stopped his vehicle when he ran a red light at a Main Street intersection early this morning.

PRESS RELEASE September 13, 2016: Branford Police arrested Eric Kousen, 26, (DOB 12/20/1989) of 13 Pentecost Street, Branford, at about 1:30 a.m. this morning, after an officer observed the vehicle Kousen was driving, travel through a red light.

Lieutenant John Alves, the midnight shift commander, said that Officer Luigi Amasino noticed Kousen drive through a red light at the intersection of Main and North Main Street. Officer Amasino stopped Kousen's vehicle on West Main Street and was assisted by Sergeant Dominick Eula.

While Officer Amasino was interviewing Kousen at the rear of the vehicle, Sergeant Eula located a glass smoking pipe and a "rock like" substance in plain view in the front passenger compartment of the vehicle. Both of the items are consistent with smoking rock cocaine and later tested positive for cocaine. 

Officers also located tools including a glass break tool, flat headed screw driver, mini crow bar and a mini sledge hammer. Lt. Alves noted that these tools are commonly used in the act of committing burglaries.

During the arrest processing procedure at Police Headquarters, Kousen refused to be fingerprinted.  Kousen was charged with Possession of Narcotics, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Manufacturing /Possession of Burglary Tools, Failure to Obey Control Signal and Refusal to be Fingerprinted. Kousen was held on a $5,000 bond and was arraigned in New Haven Court this morning.