SOMERSET — Two men from Virginia pulled up at the pumps at Turkey Hill Gas Station off Center Avenue in the borough and one went inside while the other stayed with their car. What they didn't know was a local police officer was watching.
Somerset Borough Police Officer J. Clement said he noticed the driver "pick up what appeared to be a wallet, open it up, sort through the contents, and appeared to conceal the item in his pocket, then remove it from his pockets and hide it (in) the front seat."
It is not clear from the police complaints which one of the men - Ryan Lee Anderson, 44, Beaverdam, Virginia, or Preston Robert Batts, 45, Manassas, Virginia, formerly of Beaverdam at the same address as Anderson - was the driver and which one was the passenger. What was clear from the probable-cause affidavits was that Clement spoke first with the passenger and then with the driver when he returned to the vehicle.
When he approached the passenger, the officer said he "could smell a strong odor of marijuana" on him.
Clement asked the passenger where they were traveling from and he responded, "Pittsburgh from my cousin's hip surgery." He identified the driver who was in the convenience store as his "cousin."
He first denied he had any marijuana in the vehicle when the officer asked him where the marijuana was located. Next the officer told the passenger that he "could smell both burnt and green marijuana" and the odor was "very strong." At that point the passenger said there was illegal marijuana inside the front seat area of the car and that was all he had, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
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The driver was walking back to the car when the officer told him that the passenger had said there was "illegal marijuana" in the vehicle. The officer than asked the man how he knew the passenger. The driver responded that he was a friend, he knew him from an old job and they were coming from Chambersburg from finalizing some of his late father's affairs, Clement wrote.
"Due to the inconsistency of stories, I asked the driver about any marijuana inside the vehicle and the driver stated there was none," according to the affidavit.
The officer asked for consent to search the vehicle and driver gave verbal consent.
What was found
"Today, Officers from Somerset Borough Police Department conducted an investigation and seized approximately three pounds of suspected marijuana, suspected cocaine, and packaged THC candies," Somerset County District Attorney Molly Metzgar wrote in a media release.
What resulted
Anderson and Batts were arrested and both charged with felony possession with intent to deliver controlled substances, she wrote.
According to District Judge Scott Walker's clerks, both men were arraigned on charges around lunchtime Wednesday and lodged in the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bond. Their preliminary hearing before Walker is tentatively scheduled at 3:15 p.m. Aug. 20.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Conflicting stories lead to drug charges and Somerset County Jail for 2 travelers
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