Undercover drug buys pave way to 3 Staten Island arrests

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A series of undercover buys led police to two Mid-Island homes and the arrests of two men and a woman on prescription-pill and drug-dealing charges Wednesday.

Detectives made nine purchases in total, either at the corner of Guyon and North Railroad avenues in Oakwood, or inside the 115A Nelson Ave. home of Megan Cohen, 22, and Joseph Tardy, 23, court papers allege.

The deals took place between Dec. 6 and Jan. 17, with the same undercover officer buying drugs from either Ms. Cohen, Tardy, or a third person, Joseph Hinkley Sr,. 39, of 335 Edison St. in New Dorp, court papers allege.

The detective bought marijuana, cocaine, MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax from the suspects, police allege.

On Wednesday, police raided the Nelson Avenue residence, where all three suspects wer present, and found two ounces of marijuana in several bags, a quantity of cocaine, two pipes with cocaine residue, empty bags and a scale, court papers state.

A second raid at Hinkley’s home turned up eight ounces of marijuana, an oxycodone pill and two codeine pills, court papers allege. Hinkley’s son, Joseph Hinkley Jr., 18, was present, police allege.

Ms. Cohen, Tardy and Hinkley Sr. face multiple felony drug possession and sale charges, while Hinkley Jr. faces felony marijuana possession charges, as well as several misdemeanor charges, according to Peter N. Spencer, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan.