Police say handguns, stolen box trailer found
MERCER TWP — A box trailer reported stolen from Texas, two illegally owned handguns and suspected methamphetamine were among the items discovered last week at a property in northern Butler County, according to state police.
Daniel J. Dellich Jr., 44, of Marion Township was arrested and arraigned Friday on charges stemming from a search warrant at 150 Station Road in Mercer Township.
Dellich was also arraigned on separate charges for allegedly selling crystal meth to a police informant in March at the same commercial property where police said he stores trucks and trailers for his trucking company.
He was placed in the Butler County Prison and released Saturday after posting a combined $50,000 bail. A pair of hearings on the charges are scheduled for next week.
Troopers with the state police Western Regional Auto Theft Task Force and vice, crime and patrol units executed the search warrant obtained after a large box trailer with a Tennessee license plate that had been reported stolen was seen on the property. The stolen trailer had been entered into the National Crime Information Center by the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Police Department on Dec. 14.
Police said the trailer turned up at a garage situated on the Station Road commercial property, adding how it was allegedly attached to a yellow Kenworth truck owned by Dellich.
Just before the search, police said they saw Dellich leave the garage in a car. Troopers subsequently made a traffic stop at the Giant Eagle parking lot in Slippery Rock.According to court documents, police detained Dellich and conducted a search on Station Road where they found suspected methamphetamine on a work bench in the garage and drug paraphernalia in the yellow truck cab.The discovery led police to obtain additional search warrants, including for the car that Dellich was driving when troopers stopped him. Police said they recovered the stolen trailer, valued at $26,000, and also impounded the defendant's yellow truck. Also seized from the garage, according to documents, was a Ruger .44-caliber revolver, a Ruger .357-caliber revolver, two long guns and plastic containers with suspected meth and powder believed to be ecstasy.Court documents report that other items found in the garage included two plastic bags with white powder, a coffee filter with suspected methamphetamine residue, paper containing suspected meth, digital scales and more drug contraband.In the car, investigators said they seized two plastic bags containing 27 grams of suspected meth.According to the court documents, Dellich told police during an interview that he bought the revolvers “for cash without utilizing a licensed dealer.” He allegedly also told investigators he couldn't remember who sold him the guns, telling police “people are always trying to sell him stuff.”District Judge William Fullerton arraigned Dellich on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and receiving stolen property. The latter charge is in connection with the stolen trailer.Additionally, he is charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia and unlawful sale or transfer of a firearm.Police said Fullerton also arraigned Dellich on a separate charge related to a controlled drug buy March 14 at the garage during which he sold crystal meth to an informant.He was arraigned in that case on felony and misdemeanor drug charges.Preliminary hearings in both cases are scheduled for May 29 at the office of District Judge Bill O'Donnell in Slippery Rock.Dellich did not return telephone calls seeking comment. It was not known if he has an attorney.
