Rockland Traffic Stop Leads to Drug Seizures and Arrest of Two Repeat Offenders

A Rockland traffic stop on Saturday led to the seizure of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamines, as well as the arrest of a person out on bail and a fugitive subject to an active arrest warrant for theft.

On Saturday at approximately 8:00 p.m., Rockland police officers conducted a routine traffic stop for an equipment violation.

During the stop, officers realized that the vehicle’s operator, Mary Sczepaniak, 47, of Thomaston, was out on bail from a prior felony drug arrest.

Law enforcement searched the vehicle and allegedly found 15 grams of illicit drugs, including fentanyl, crack cocaine, and methamphetamines, along with several thousand dollars in suspected drug proceeds.

Police arrested Sczepaniak and charged her with felony unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, and violation of conditions of release. She was transported to the Knox County Jail.

In 2022, Sczepaniak was previously arrested in Belfast on burglary charges.

One passenger allegedly provided law enforcement with a false name and was subject to an active arrest warrant for theft, as well as being in violation of bail conditions by having contact with a prior victim.

Police strangely declined to name the passenger, despite giving no indication that he was a minor.

Police arrested the passenger on the outstanding warrant, but while he was in custody, the passenger allegedly intentionally smashed his own head repeatedly against the partition inside the police cruiser, causing injury.

While treating the injury, law enforcement allegedly learned that the passenger had ingested a large amount of illegal drugs to conceal evidence.

The passenger was transported to a local hospital for treatment for drug exposure and faces charges of violating conditions of release, failure to provide a correct name, criminal mischief, and falsifying physical evidence, in addition to charges related to the outstanding warrant.