Search at prison reveals drug stash
A correctional officer searching a man who had just been nabbed on a warrant made an unexpected discovery at the Butler County Prison.
Butler police arrested 36-year-old Matthew Lee Summerville after they stopped him about 9:45 p.m. Saturday for running a stop sign on a bike on West Penn Street, according to court documents.
While checking his personal information, officers learned that he was wanted on a bench warrant. That warrant, court records showed, was issued May 18 when he failed to appear for a court hearing in a misdemeanor drug case.
Police took Summerville, who has no known address, to the county prison, where he was searched. The search uncovered a hidden stash of prescription medication in the suspect’s groin area, documents said.
Moments later, the drugs — several pills of clonazepam and hydroxyzine — fell to the floor.
But before the correctional officer and police officer could seize the evidence, documents said, Summerville gathered up at least some of the anti-anxiety pills and swallowed them.
District Judge William Fullerton on Monday arraigned the defendant on a felony charge of trying to smuggle drugs into the prison and misdemeanor charges of tampering with physical evidence, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance.
He is being held in the prison on $10,000 bail.