Traffic stop leads to arrests
BUTLER TWP — Dozens of bags of suspected heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and a loaded pistol were found in a car during an early-morning traffic stop Thursday.
Butler Township police arrested Pittsburgh cousins, three-time drug felon Jaraye L. Sloan, 35, and Quayshawn M. Sloan, 23, on felony narcotics and weapons charges after the car they were riding in was pulled over on Route 8 south near Hansen Avenue.
Police said they stopped the vehicle about 1:35 a.m. after the driver nearly caused a collision with a patrolman's car when she changed lanes.
Patrolman Max Wittlinger called for back up when he noticed the driver, a 19-year-old woman, acting “very suspiciously, according to court documents
Two other officers arrived and one of them spotted between the front passenger and door what appeared to be a baggie for holding marijuana, police said.
Several burned marijuana cigarettes in the front passenger door handle, were found as the occupants were taken out of the car, police said.
Jaraye Sloan, the back seat passenger, is accused of using a phony name while being patted down, police said.
A search of the car turned up a .32-caliber Ruger pistol in the center console with a round in the chamber.
On the rear passenger seat, documents said, police found a back pack filled with suspected drugs — 70 stamp bags of heroin and a single baggie each of crack and marijuana. The pack also held a scale and 44 rounds of .32-caliber ammunition.
Officers seized another baggie of suspected crack in the passenger seat and an open box of baking soda and a glass measuring cup containing “white power,” documents said.The younger Sloan later claimed the drugs were his, police said, but he denied knowing anything about the gun.A felon, Jaraye Sloan is barred by state law from possessing firearms.Both defendants admitted the driver was only giving them a ride and that she knew nothing about any “illegal activity,” according to a police affidavit. She was not charged.District Judge Sue Haggerty arraigned Jaraye Sloan on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, conspiracy, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of a gun without a carry permit.He also is charged with misdemeanor counts of drug possession and false identification to police.Court records showed the elder Sloan's criminal history includes three separate felony drug convictions stemming from cases between 2009 and 2012, all in Beaver County.Haggerty arraigned Quayshawn Sloan on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy.He also is charged with misdemeanor counts of drug possession and possession of a gun without a carry permit.Following arraignment, Jaraye Sloan and Quayshawn Sloan were placed in the Butler County Prison on $40,000 and $30,000 bail, respectively.
