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Police: Cocaine, marijuana, MDMA found in hotel room at The Breakers Palm Beach

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Posted at 2:13 PM, Jul 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-24 11:12:55-04

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Palm Beach police arrested a man they say had illegal drugs inside a hotel room at The Breakers.

According to an arrest report, a cleaning staff member entered the hotel room on July 10 around 3 p.m. and saw what she suspected to be illegal drugs.

That included white powder on a dresser and a metal container with white powder inside, a rolled up dollar bill with white powder residue on a nightstand, and two glass pipes with burnt ends in a bathroom, police said.

The cleaning staff member left the room and alerted hotel security.

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Police said they responded and observed cocaine residue on top of a dresser and in a metal dish on the dresser, marijuana on top of the dresser, cocaine residue and a rolled up dollar bill with cocaine residue on a nightstand, and glass pipes used to smoke crack cocaine and marijuana in a bathroom.

Shortly after that, police said 52-year-old John Pinto, who was staying in the room, approached the room and was stopped by a detective.

"Pinto began to display erratic behavior: shaking, sweating profusely and mumbling," according to his arrest report.

Police said they found hard compressed cocaine in Pinto's pocket, and an additional search of the hotel room turned up a pill bottle with MDMA inside.

Pinto was arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of cocaine possession, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and possession of drug equipment.