BEDFORD – On Sunday, May at 10:56 p.m., Bedford Police Officer Zakry Brooking responded to conduct a welfare check in the 1000 block of F Street.
The woman reported her grandchildren contacted her, saying their parents were passed out in the home.
When officers arrived, two children exited the side door of the home. They were distraught, and one was crying.
At this time, 30-year-old Courtney Rizzi opened the front door. Officers asked to step inside because it was raining. When officers entered the residence, Officer Taylor Daugherty found 41-year-old Benjamin Aylward passed out on the bed in the front room.
When officers went to check on Aylward, they found an uncapped syringe on the floor in front of the bed and a torn plastic baggie containing a powder-like residue on the TV stand.
Officers detained Rizzi and Aylward and placed them in a police vehicle. Judge Robert Cline granted a search warrant for the residence.
The children’s grandmother arrived to look after them. The grandmother told police one of the children had sent her two Snapchat messages about their parents being unconscious on the bed. While speaking to the grandmother, Rizzi began kicking the rear window of the patrol vehicle. Officers secured Rizzi in leg restraints.
Rizzi told police they would find syringes, heroin, and possibly a marijuana pipe inside the home. When asked where the heroin was, Rizzi said, “It’s everywhere.”
She said the reason the kids couldn’t wake her was because she had just used heroin.
She stated that everything found in the home was hers. She added that Aylward was already facing criminal charges from a prior incident and didn’t need new charges.
Aylward refused to speak to the police without a lawyer.
During the search police found:
- Numerous syringes (found in various locations throughout the room)
- Plastic bag containing a powder-like substance (found on a TV stand)
- Plastic bag containing a powder-like substance (found in a men’s underwear
drawer) - Numerous torn plastic baggies (found in various locations throughout the room)
- Folded aluminum foil containing a white powder-like substance (found on TV
stand) - Multi-colored glass smoking device containing marijuana residue (found in a white plastic bin under the dresser)
- Metal spoon containing a burnt residue (On the TV stand)
- Metal spoon containing a burnt residue (found in men’s underwear drawer)
- Black digital scale containing a powder-like residue (found in sock drawer)
- A syringe was found on the bathroom floor
Two Apple iPhones belonging to Rizzi and Aylward and a Microsoft laptop located in their bedroom were collected about potential dealing information.
The Department of Child Services was contacted and the children were released to the care of their grandmother.
The powder-like residue found on the TV stand tested positive for cocaine. The other baggies of the powder-like substance tested positive for heroin.
Rizzi and Aylward are facing charges of unlawful possession of a syringe, possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Rizzi is also facing two counts of child neglect.
