Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni said a Haz-Mat team searched Finnie's car and home.
Holyoke police and fire officials along with state police and HazMat crews investigate the contents of a milk jug found in a PT Cruiser at the corner of Cherry Street and Community field Road Saturday morning. Updates a story posted Saturday at 9:12 a.m.
HOLYOKE – Police on Saturday charged John Finnie, 35, of Holyoke, with transporting hazardous materials after a resident reported a man had “suspiciously dumped” a liquid at Community Field.
The arrest came after more than a dozen plastic milk jugs were found in the city during the past seven days that investigators suspected may have contained by-products of illegally produced methamphetamine.
However, Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said Finnie was not charged in connection with those jugs and the liquid he is suspected of dumping must undergo testing.
“There were enough consistencies (with the previous discoveries) to raise our suspicions, but there were inconsistencies, too,” Mastroianni said.
Finnie, of 37 Cherry St., also was charged with disorderly conduct, although Holyoke police did not indicate what precipitated that charge.
There were no new developments in the case as of early Sunday morning, according to Holyoke Police Sgt. Larry Cournoyer.
He said police still had not determined the nature of the liquid Finnie allegedly dumped at Community Field.
"It's got to be looked at at the state lab," Cournoyer said.
During the investigation police closed traffic along Route 202 and blocked an off-ramp of Interstate 91 northbound leading to Holyoke. A state police official said earlier that Finnie had acted “evasive” when police stopped him for questioning and that a container also had been discovered in his car.
Mastroianni said investigators including a hazardous materials team searched Finnie’s Cherry Street home as well.
“We wanted to make sure everything was safe,” Mastroianni said.
The investigation is ongoing. Finnie is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Holyoke District Court.