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WATERVILLE — Police said they found drugs on a man while arresting him on a warrant just past midnight on Thursday.

Derek Gauthier, 38, of 9 Summer St., was arrested at 12:10 a.m. on a warrant for unpaid fines and multiple drug charges.

Officer Ryan Dinsmore saw Gauthier while driving and, because he was wanted on a warrant, stopped to arrest him.

Gauthier handed a woman at the scene a pill container when Dinsmore approached him, according to Deputy Chief Bill Bonney, but the container fell and Dinsmore picked it up.

Two benzodiazepine tablets — Klonopin and Xanax — were in the pill bottle, Bonney said. Both sedatives can be used to treat anxiety. Gauthier does not have a prescription for either drug, Bonney said.

Dinsmore also found Suboxone, a narcotic taken to treat addiction, and marijuana when he searched Gauthier.

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Gauthier was charged with two counts of possession of scheduled drugs as a class E misdemeanor for the sedatives, which is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000. He was also charged with possession of scheduled drugs as a class D misdemeanor for the narcotic, which is punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine up to $2,000. He was charged with a civil violation for the marijuana.

Gauthier posted $1,000 unsecured bail, meaning he paid $60 now and will have to pay $1,000 if he fails to appear in court. He also paid the $310 in fines he owed on the warrant.

Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239

[email protected]

Twitter: @madelinestamour

Madeline St. Amour covers general news in the towns of Oakland, Winslow, Vassalboro, China and Unity, as well as crime and the new Fiberight plant in Hampden. She started at the Sentinel in the spring...

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