SPRINGFIELD - A 52-year-old city man was arrested Monday afternoon in East Forest Park after police stopped him from attempting to sell upscale sunglasses door-to-door without a city-issued hawker & peddler license.

Steven Baker

Selling merchandise without the $64 license is not typically an arrestable offense, but being found with narcotics is.

And when officers found 30 packets of heroin and crack and powdered cocaine inside the sunglasses cases, the dealer, identified as Steven Baker of 140 Chestnut St., was arrested, said police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney.

"Needless to say, (Baker) didn't have a license to sell illegal narcotics either," Delaney said.

Baker was charged with possession of heroin, crack cocaine and powdered cocaine, each with intent to distribute, and violation of city ordinances, failure to produce a hawker & peddler license.

Police also confiscated $103 in cash, plus several pairs of Ray Ban sunglasses that had price tags of between $142 and $162, Delaney said.

Police were dispatched to Grandview Street after residents called to report an unknown man walking on the street and taking pictures of houses. Officers found Baker nearby at Allen Street and Plumtree Road, and when they questioned him, he denied taking any pictures of houses, Delaney said.

Instead he said he was selling sunglasses, which led police to ask to see his peddlers license, Delaney said.

Delaney said a records check showed Baker had been convicted of selling heroin in 2011, which resulted in police charging him with being a subsequent offender.

He is due to be arraigned Tuesday in Springfield District Court.