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Couple Accused Of Bringing Kids To Heroin Deal At Mahopac Gas Station

MAHOPAC, N.Y. -- A Mahopac couple were arrested after bringing their two small children to a drug deal to sell heroin, according to the office of Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith.

Dawn Lagatella was busted for selling heroin with her two small children in the car.

Dawn Lagatella was busted for selling heroin with her two small children in the car.

Photo Credit: Putnam County Sheriff's Office
Philip Callaci was charged with selling heroin and endangering the welfare of a child after selling to an undercover officer.

Philip Callaci was charged with selling heroin and endangering the welfare of a child after selling to an undercover officer.

Photo Credit: Putnam County Sheriff's Office

Boyfriend and girlfriend, Philip C. Callaci, 49, and Dawn Lagatella, 38, were apprehended after they went to an unidentified Mahopac gas station on Wednesday, Oct. 26, where they had pre-arranged to sell heroin to a buyer, the sheriff's office said.

The couple's two small children -- a 2-year-old and a 3-week-old -- were in the back seat of the car when the buyer walked up to the car to make the deal, the sheriff's office added.

The buyer, an undercover deputy sheriff, was working as part of a buy-and-bust team of the Sheriff’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit (NEU). When the heroin sale took place, NEU members moved in and arrested Callaci and Lagatella and seized a quantity of heroin from the couple’s car, the sheriff's office said.

Uniformed patrol deputies and state troopers assisted the undercover narcotics team in the arrest.

The Sheriff’s Office notified the Putnam County Department of Child Protective Services regarding the incident. The children were temporarily turned over to a relative at the scene, the sheriff's office reported.

Callaci was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and endangering the welfare of a child. At the time of his arrest, Callaci was on probation for a prior petit larceny conviction. He was arraigned before Carmel Town Justice Thomas Jacobellis, who set bail in the amount of $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond. He was sent to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of bail until Thursday, Oct. 27, when the cash bail was posted for his release.

Lagatella was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child. She was booked and released on a court appearance ticket.

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