Police: Theft call turns up drugs
Two Philadelphia men arrested for shoplifting Thursday were found with more than stolen merchandise, Butler police said. One of the men was caught holding more than five dozen stamp bags of suspected heroin, police said.
The defendants, 21-year-old Tajzee H. Branch-Berry and 20-year-old Marquise R. Spellman, are charged with felony drug possession. They are in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail each.
Police nabbed the suspects about 9 a.m. after officers got a shoplifting call from the Rite Aid store on South Main Street.
The store manager pointed out the two men, who police believe teamed up to try and steal a $25 cell phone charging kit, according to court documents.
Officers took the men to the police station. Later, officers learned that Branch-Berry, who had given them a phony name, was wanted on an arrest warrant for a suspected theft in Arnold, Westmoreland County.
A search of Branch-Berry turned up 64 bags of suspected heroin, bundled together, in his underwear, police said.
District Judge William Fullerton arraigned both defendants on a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver, misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, and summary charges of retail theft and conspiracy. Branch-Berry also is charged with false identification to law enforcement authorities.
Preliminary hearings for the suspects are set for 1:30 p.m. Monday.
