Traffic stop leads to drug charges for pair
ADAMS TWP — A defective license plate light led to the seizure of more than 1½ ounces of methamphetamine, a scale and nearly $1,000 in currency, authorities said, and landed two people behind bars.
Adams Township police arrested Alex A. Grant, 25, and Danielle L. Winkle, 28, both of Mars, both passengers, following the early Wednesday morning traffic stop.
Grant is charged with felony drug possession and is in Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail. Winkle, who is accused of misdemeanor possession, is in the county jail on $2,500 bail and for an out-of-county warrant.
Patrolman Christopher Kopas was traveling east on Union Church Road about 1:10 a.m. Wednesday when he noticed a car in front of him that had a burned out plate light, according to court documents.
The officer stopped the car at the intersection of Chapel Ridge Lane. He noted in his report that both passengers appeared “nervous.”
He subsequently learned that Winkle was wanted on an arrest warrant by Munhall police in Allegheny County in a 2017 misdemeanor drug case.
She admitted that she had methamphetamine and a smoking pipe in her book bag, police said.
Kopas looked in the bag and found a baggie containing a small amount of what appeared to be meth, and a meth pipe.
A search of a computer-style bag belonging to Grant, documents said, turned up two baggies — one with 28.5 grams and the other with 22.3 grams of suspected methamphetamine.
Along with the alleged drugs, the officer seized a digital scale and suspected drug-packaging materials that were in the computer bag, documents said. He also found Grant carrying $914.Kopas in his affidavit referenced the “abnormally large amount of cash” that the defendant was holding, particularly since he did not have a job.Given the amount of drugs and money confiscated as well as the other contraband, police charged Grant with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony.He, like Winkle, is also charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.Online court records did not indicate if the defendants have attorneys. Preliminary hearings for both are set for Tuesday at the office of District Judge Wayne Seibel in Evans City.
