Two local men were arrested by the Amherst Police Department for drug and gun law violations last week.

At approximately 6:23 p.m. on Nov. 23, the Amherst PD arrested Frankie Sanchez, of Chicopee, and Jose M. Rodriguez, of Northampton, in a parking lot outside of the Riverside Park Apartments.

Sanchez was arrested on charges of five counts of distribution of a Class B substance, cocaine, drug violation sin a school zone, possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance, possession of a firearm without a license, and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

Rodriguez was arrested and charged with possession of a Class D substance, marijuana, with intent to distribute.

The two men were found in a car parked in the apartment complex’s lot. A search of the men and the vehicle revealed “a quantity of cocaine and marijuana that had been pre-packaged for sale,” according to a release from Lieutenant Ronald A. Young of the APD. “Also located was a .357 pistol and a large amount of cash.”     

The Riverside Park Apartments are located on Montague Road in North Amherst. The complex is within 100 feet of the Mill River area, a public park with a playground for children. Due to the complex’s close proximity to the park, Sanchez was charged with a drug violation in a school zone.

The arrests were the result of a joint investigation by the Amherst Police and the Massachusetts State Police.

Neither are students at the University of Massachusetts, though Sanchez is employed by the school. According to the UMass website, he is the departmental assistant of dining services at the Worcester Dining Commons.

Both men were held at the Hampshire County House of Corrections in Northampton following their arrest. According to Young, “they are expected to be arraigned in the Eastern Hampshire District Court [on November 24.] The matter remains under investigation.”

-Collegian News Staff