Duval Harvin

Butler police arrested a Philadelphia man after interrupting a suspected drug deal Monday afternoon in the parking lot of a convenience store on West Jefferson Street.

The alleged dealer, 24-year-old Duval Dontae Najeer Harvin, faces felony and misdemeanor drug possession charges. He is being held in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.

Patrolman Myles Bizub was in his cruiser on North Chestnut Street near Jefferson Street about 5 p.m. when he spotted what appeared to be a drug deal unfolding in the A-Plus parking lot, according to court documents.

The officer said he saw Harvin walk up to a car and get into the back passenger seat. Moments later, the suspect got out as Bizub approached the vehicle.

Bizub told the defendant to stop. He gave the officer a bogus name, documents said, but was eventually identified. While at the vehicle, police said they noticed the front seat passenger, Quintin Copple, 38, of Brady Township, making “furtive movements.”

Once Copple was taken out of the car, police Lt. Brian Grooms saw a loaded syringe on the floor between the door and front passenger seat.

Copple admitted to Grooms that he “was there to purchase narcotics from (the defendant),” according to a police affidavit.

Officers checked the area where they caught Harvin and found a plastic baggie corner containing suspected crack cocaine.

District Judge Wayne Seibel arraigned Harvin on a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

Copple faces a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, police said. The driver, a 47-year-old resident of Brady Township, was not charged.

Deputy Chief David Adam noted that both the driver and Copple cooperated with police in their investigation.