SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When a man was pulled over in Syracuse on Friday and found with several envelopes of heroin, he said it belonged to a 5-year-old boy, according to a felony complaint.

The man said he took the drugs to teach the child about the dangers of drug use, police claim.

Matthew Derocha

Members of the Syracuse Police Department pulled over 28-year-old Matthew W. Derocha, of Crestview Drive, Cicero, while he was driving along the 300 block of Gifford Street at about 6 p.m. Friday.

When officers approached his 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix, they saw a black digital scale commonly used to weigh narcotics in the back seat, according to a felony complaint filed against him.

Derocha also had 20 wax envelopes of a tan, brown powder labeled "SHUFFLIN" -- which tested positive for heroin -- in his front pants pocket, police state.

Derocha told officers at the scene the envelopes of heroin had been taken from a 5-year-old child. He claimed to have taken them and was educating the boy about the dangers of drug use, according to a notice of confession.

Derocha's license listed his address as Crestview Drive in Cicero, but original police arrest records list Derocha's address as the Rescue Mission on Dickerson Street in Syracuse.

Upon further investigation, Syracuse officers found two cellphones and a cardboard box that had hundreds of wax envelopes commonly used to package narcotics for sale in the vehicle, police claim in the complaint.

Derocha was arrested and charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony; seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor; and two counts of second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

Derocha was sent to the Onondaga County jail and is being held on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond, according to inmate records. He is scheduled to reappear in court Thursday.