Fall River Man Said to Be Texting and Driving Arrested

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A Fall River man with previous drug arrests was arrested again on drug and other charges after he was allegedly caught texting while driving.

According to Massachusetts State Police, troopers from the Dartmouth Barracks were conducting traffic enforcement in Fall River during the early morning hours of May 1.

Trooper Stelvio Neto, a recent graduate of trooper training, observed a Nissan SUV driven by a man “holding his phone in front of him, illuminating his face in the darkness of the morning hours,” State Police said.

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The troopers stopped the vehicle and learned that the driver, identified as Michael Couto, 55, of Fall River, had a suspended license. He was removed from the vehicle, placed into handcuffs and searched.

State Police said the troopers found him “in possession of a golf ball-sized baggie of fentanyl, and a smaller baggie of crack cocaine.”

A search of the Nissan Couto was driving also allegedly turned up a backpack that contained numerous individually bundled packages of fentanyl and a stun gun. State Police said Couto did not possess a license for the stun gun.

State Police said the drugs totaled roughly 79 grams of fentanyl and eight grams of crack cocaine.