Rookie cop arrested for second time

The New Jersey Times by Michael Ratcliffe - July 14, 2008

TRENTON -- A rookie city police officer who earlier this year was suspended from duty following his arrest for alleged drug dealing was taken into custody again late last week and charged with additional drug offenses, police confirmed on Monday. On Friday, Trenton police Tactical Anti-Crime Unit officers arrested Nicholas A. Fratticcioli, 24, of Hamilton, in the 1000 block of South Broad Street and charged him with possession of heroin and loitering to buy or sell drugs, police said, noting that 11 "decks" -- or individual doses -- of heroin were allegedly seized from him. Fratticcioli has been suspended without pay from the city police department since May, when he was charged by the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office with distribution of a prescription drug and official misconduct for allegedly selling in excess of 100 doses of a prescription muscle relaxant, according to police and The Times' archives.

Fratticcioli, a police officer for just over a year, was summoned to the department's internal affairs unit and handcuffed shortly after he reported for a night patrol shift on May 7. At the time, the prosecutor's office said Fratticcioli had been under investigation for two months and twice -- in April and May -- allegedly sold quantities of a narcotic called cyclobenzaprine to undercover officers. Marketed under the brand name Flexeril and Fexmid, cyclobenzaprine is commonly prescribed for chronic back and neck pain and is potentially addictive. Law enforcement sources have said the investigation began when one of Fratticcioli's alleged customers was arrested in an unrelated matter and offered up information on the officer. Fratticcioli, who was hired in March 2007, graduated from the Trenton Police Academy in August.  Contact Michael Ratcliffe at mratcliffe@njtimes.com