ROCKLAND (AP) – A Maine police officer narrowly avoided being stuck with a hypodermic needle during a scuffle with a man who was caught in the act of using heroin during a drug bust.

Jim Pease of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency says the officer noticed after arresting 36-year-old Douglas Wade that a needle was stuck in his gun belt. Pease says it’s unclear whether the officer was assaulted with the needle or whether it got stuck in his belt inadvertently while the suspect was resisting arrest.

Wade was arrested along with his partner, 44-year-old Tamra McNeil. Pease says agents seized eight grams of heroin and nine grams of cocaine with a street value of about $11,000.

Police arrived with a search warrant Monday morning after an investigation revealed the couple had been going to Massachusetts weekly to get heroin and cocaine for their own use and for resale.