By Times Staff Writer
Published September 13, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - A St. Petersburg Times employee was arrested early Sunday, accused of possessing illegal drugs.
Michael Stephen Passarelli, 49, of 7236 Sandalwood Drive, is an assistant district manager in circulation. He has been with the Times less than two years.
Passarelli was arrested about 5 a.m. while on his way to deliver newspapers. According to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report, Passarelli stepped out of a 1997 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer at Madison Street and Trouble Creek Road and dropped a plastic film canister. A sheriff's deputy picked it up and found less than one gram of marijuana inside. Passarelli was a passenger in the Blazer.
The driver, 37-year-old Robert Debow, allowed deputies to search the Blazer, where they found a glass pipe containing cocaine residue. According to the report, Passarelli admitted to possessing the marijuana and pipe.
Passarelli was released from the county jail in Land O'Lakes about 2:30 p.m. Sunday after posting $2,600 on charges of possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana.
