On Monday, March 25th, Kayla Stojda (6/22/1992: Address unknown) and Joseph Mathews (5/16/1998: 14 Willow Street apt. #5, Adams MA) were arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court in connection to alleged trespassing and trafficking cocaine and crack cocaine in a March 22nd incident.
Kayla Stojda was charged with:
- Trafficking in Cocaine, 200 grams or more
- Trespassing after notice
Joseph Matthews was charged with:
- Trafficking in Cocaine, 200 grams or more
- Trespassing after notice
The Commonwealth requested Kayla Stojda be held on $100,000 bail. The court imposed $2500 bail. Additionally Stojda had bail recorded on underlying cases.
The court imposed $200,000 bail without prejudice for Joseph Mathews. Matthews had bail revoked on underlying trafficking charges.
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On March 22nd, at approximately 9:19pm members of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) police department were performing routine checks of the MCLA campus. They observed unusual activity at 228 East Main Street (a private property next to a building belonging to MCLA). Police identified themselves and spotted an individual (later identified as Matthews) in the building’s vestibule. Police informed Matthews that he was trespassing on private property. Matthews refused to leave the building. At this point MCLA police requested assistance from the North Adams Police Department.
At approximately 9:31pm MCLA police officers and North Adams police officers entered the building at 228 East Main Street. Matthews was attempting to flee from the vestibule. Police were able to bring Matthews into custody. He seemed agitated and was not cooperating with police directions. While in custody, Matthews attempted multiple times to lead police away from the building claiming his girlfriend was outside and that they were supposed to meet up.
Additional police officers on the scene returned to the vestibule where Matthews was originally spotted. Officers located Kayla Stojda in the same area and brought her into custody without incident. Stojda was carrying a backpack on her shoulder but claimed it was not hers. When officers lifted up the bag they felt many small rock-like objects in the bag’s bottom. Officers opened the bag and saw a large quantity of cocaine and crack cocaine.
Along with the items identified below, Matthews and Stojda had approximately 1,029 grams of cocain/crack cocaine in their possession. This has a street value of approximately $61,740 to $102,900.