JOHNSONBURG — Charges have been filed against a Bradford man and woman who were allegedly high and in possession of heroin and marijuana in the Sheetz parking lot in Ridgway after a traffic accident.
Anderson Emanuel Tolbert Jr., 41, and Melissa Simerson Merced, both of 15 E. Warren Road, are both charged with conspiracy to manufacture, deliver or possess a controlled or counterfeit substance with the intent to manufacture or deliver it by a person not registered, intentional possession of a controlled or counterfeit substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. In addition to those charges, Tolbert is also charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
The police complaint said Ridgway Borough police were called to Sheetz in Ridgway at 6:01 a.m. Jan. 21 after a white pick-up truck hit a pole near the entrance of the store. Tolbert got out of the truck and told officers his girlfriend, Merced, was in the store. He said they were on the way to see his daughter in Harrisburg and they must have fallen asleep in the truck. He could not explain how the truck, owned by Merced’s mother, hit the pole. Officers noticed his pupils were very constricted, which occurs when a person is using a narcotic. Tolbert denied having taken either a prescription or illegal drug, according to court records.
Tolbert gave the officers written permission to search the truck. Police found eight light-blue glassine packets with white powder in them in the right pocket of a jacket. The packets were held together with a rubber-band, which is the way they are typically prepared when they are going to be sold, Officer Justin Bolden said in the complaint.
Tolbert admitted the packets had heroin inside and said they were his, the complaint alleged. In a black bag in the truck, officers also found a clear bag that appeared to have marijuana inside; they also noticed what appeared to be a marijuana blunt on the dashboard of the truck. Tolbert said he had smoked marijuana just hours before leaving Bradford. Tolbert was arrested, and he was searched. Police found $1,495 in his front jeans pocket, court records read.
When Merced left the store and spoke with officers they noticed white powder in one of her nostrils and a cut piece of straw was protruding from the right pocket of her pants. Merced gave the straw to an officer when he asked for it. She said she had been snorting fentanyl and/or Percocet. She then gave officers four white glassine packets that had a white powder with white power in them, which Merced said was a combination of fentanyl and percocet. It had been in the same pocket as the straw. She said both she and Tolbert had snorted the substance just before leaving Bradford. She told officers they were driving to New Jersey, court records alleged.
Merced was arrested. During the arrest, her purse was searched and police found six individually wrapped packages of Suboxone 8 mg/2mg sublingual films, a schedule III controlled substance. Merced said she did not have a prescription for it. She also had $1,959 in her purse, court records read.
Later that night police asked Tolbert why they had so much money, he said he was going to use it to buy his daughter presents. Merced told officers the money was from her paycheck, court records read.
Tests conducted on the substances in the truck determined they were marijuana and heroin. A lab report concluded Tolbert had Fentanyl and THC substances in his system, court records read.
A preliminary hearing for Tolbert has been set for 9 a.m. March 29 before District Judge James Martin in Johnsonburg. Merced is scheduled for a hearing at 9:30 a.m. the same day, also before Martin.
