The son of the Binghamton and Johnson City police chief has pleaded not guilty after he was arrested for a number of drug charges. 22-year-old Joseph Zikuski III, of Binghamton, was sent to the Broome County jail after Binghamton Police found heroin and prescription medication in his vehicle on Thursday night. Police on the scene allegedly found seven bags of heroin, three Xanax pills and a hypodermic needle inside Zikuski’s vehicle. During his arraignment on Friday, Zikuski’s attorney called for him to be sent to New Horizon’s rehabilitation program instead of jail, but the judge denied the request and sent him to the Broome County jail on $1,000 bail. Zikuski is currently on parole for assault charges stemming from an incident back in 2011 in which he and another person beat up a Hancock teacher in the parking lot of the CVS on Court Street in Binghamton. Due to this latest incident, Zikuski is facing charges of driving while impaired by drugs, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and possession of a hypodermic instrument.
