Peabody Man Acquitted in Drug Case Arrested for Dealing Heroin

A 25-year-old Peabody man was arrested by Danvers police at a Pine Street home over the weekend for allegedly dealing heroin.

John Coyne, 25, of 22 May St., Peabody, was taken into custody Saturday shortly after 10 p.m. and charged on two warrants for distribution of a Class A drug and conspiracy to violate the drug laws.

Police Capt. Patrick Ambrose said officers responded to a report of drug activity at the home earlier in the day and through the course of an investigation, identified Coyne. He was allegedly distributing "small twists of heroin," said Ambrose.

Coyne was also just acquitted by a jury this past fall in a high-profile drug case in Danvers that dated back to February 2011.

Coyne was a co-defendant in a case where two females were allegedly dumped from a car on a Danvers side street after shooting up on heroin. One of the females was then hit by a truck while lying unconscious in the street.

Coyne was charged with aggravated assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly forcibly injecting one female with heroin and being responsible for the second female's injuries.

A co-defendant -- Roberto Vasquez of Lynn -- was charged with being an accessory to the crime and driving Coyne from the scene. He pleaded guilty and served one year in jail. Coyne, however, was found not guilty on both counts by a superior court jury this past November.

The Salem News reported at the time that Coyne's attorney focused on the fact there were no witnesses to the incident, rather prosecutors argued the only way the females could have ended up on the street while unconscious was if they were dragged there.