Traffic stop leads to drug arrests
MIDDLESEX TWP — Police arrested two men and a woman near the Middlesex-Penn Township line Monday night after they stumbled upon specially adapted clothing used to smuggle drugs.
Within a secret compartment in the lining of a denim jacket, Middlesex Township Patrolman Bryan Costanzo uncovered the hidden stash — 448 stamp bags of suspected heroin and a plastic baggie containing 4.6 grams of crack cocaine.
“It was a pretty big find,” Costanzo said Tuesday. “It's a pretty good arrest.”
But that wasn't all.
Even before the drug-stuffed jacket was revealed, police say they turned up 80 bags of heroin under the same garment in a car that Costanzo had stopped for a traffic violation on Route 8.
A bag of suspected marijuana was also stuffed in one of the pockets.
Eventually, police found a stolen gun in the car.
Charged with felony drug possession are Tyree J. Freeman, 39, of Butler; his live-in girlfriend Kristina L. Martin, 46; and his cousin, Andrew Edwards, 30, of Johnstown.
Freeman and Edwards are in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail each. Martin is jailed on $10,000 bail.
Costanzo was on patrol shortly before 7:30 p.m. Monday when he found himself behind the suspects' northbound Chevy Monte Carlo traveling about 64 mph in a 50 mph zone on Route 8 near Old Route 8 in Middlesex.
He followed the car for two miles and watched it drift twice across both lanes. The second time, he decided to make a traffic stop around Dinnerbell Road in Penn.
Martin, the driver, and her passengers, Freeman in the front and Edwards in back, gave bogus names when Costanzo questioned them, police said
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The officer quickly spotted suspected drug contraband — Chore Boy copper scrubber and what appeared to be an empty bag of crack — on the car floors.“None claimed the (contraband),” Costanzo said.Martin let Costanzo search the car. Under the front passenger seat, he found another empty bag of crack.He moved to the back seat and found the denim jacket. He worked his hands over the men's coat, police said, and turned up a small bag of marijuana stuffed in a pocket.The officer lifted the jacket and eased out of the car.“That's when 80 bags of heroin fell out onto Route 8 in the pouring rain,” Costanzo said.By then, Penn and Saxonburg police had arrived to back up Costanzo, who was still giving the jacket a massage.“I felt a big bulge in the inner lining,” he said. “I didn't know what it was.”He took the coat and the suspects to the Penn Township police station. Once there, he used a knife to cut through the lining, revealing the alleged treasure trove of dope.Freeman, while being placed in a holding cell, finally gave police his real name. It turned out he was wanted by state parole authorities, police said.Before long, police also learned Edwards' true identity. He was wanted by federal authorities.Both men have extensive criminal records, investigators said, including felony drug convictions.Freeman's rap sheet showed he did a minimum 10-year prison stint for a 2003 robbery and firearms conviction in Philadelphia.Costanzo read the trio their Miranda warnings, but all acted dumbfounded about the suspected drugs.
“They didn't know anything, basically,” Costanzo said. “At least, that's what they told me.”Not surprisingly, he admitted, they refused to say who owned the jacket.The defendants were eventually taken to the Middlesex police station before their final stop at the county prison, where they were booked about 1 a.m. Tuesday.Shortly after day light, all three were arraigned on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver drugs and conspiracy, and misdemeanor possession charges.Martin also got an additional summary charge for speeding.District Judge Sue Haggerty late that afternoon issued police a search warrant for the car.During that search, police recovered more evidence including a .45-caliber pistol — loaded with a magazine clip — that was reported stolen last year from Johnstown.More search warrants will be sought for cell phones taken from Edwards and Martin, police noted.Costanzo said additional charges are pending.Sgt. Randy Ruediger, Middlesex police officer in charge, praised the arrest and credited Costanzo for excellent police work.“This is what traffic enforcement sometimes brings you,” he said. “Bryan did a very good job. That's our goal, to enforce the law and, especially in our area, to curtail the heroin pro
