Four men were arrested after Westover Police allegedly recovered various drugs from the vehicle in which they were traveling — as well as a stolen firearm and large amounts of cash.
Westover Patrolman Justice Carver reported he and Patrolman K. Brewer were in the area of Buckhannon Street in Westover Sunday evening when they noticed a silver Mitsubishi Outlander parked in the roadway obstructing traffic.
According to criminal complaints, while speaking with the driver to ask him to move to an actual parking spot, Carver noticed a strong marijuana odor coming from the vehicle.
The vehicle’s driver, Bobby Taylor, 33, and passengers, Richard Adams, 26, Jaylyn Steen, 20, and Deante Hurt, 27, claimed to be on their way to a club in Pittsburgh, the complaint said, but instead they were asked to step out of the vehicle for a probable cause search.
When asking Adams to step out of the front passenger seat, Carver reported noticing a black fanny pack on his chest. During the search ultimately conducted by officers from both Westover and Granville, it was discovered Adams’ fanny pack contained approximately 20 prepackaged Ziploc bags of suspected marijuana, the complaint said, with each bag weighing around 3.5 grams (around 2.5 ounces total).
Inside the vehicle, police allegedly found a small red backpack under the passenger seat floorboard which contained 28 bags containing 3.5 grams of suspected marijuana, adding another 3.5 ounces to the total.
Behind the second-row seating in the vehicle, officers allegedly found a large Nike duffle bag which held two large clear bags of suspected marijuana, one with around 5.9 ounces and the other with approximately 5 ounces. They also found an additional 16 Ziploc bags weighing 3.5 grams (just under 2 ounces).
Steen was also found to have a smaller bag of suspected marijuana weighing around 12 grams inside his jacket pocket, along with $955 cash.
In total, more than 19 ounces (over one pound) of suspected marijuana were recovered in the search.
Carver reported law enforcement also found a bottle labeled ibuprofen containing approximately 208 pills that were later identified as oxycodone, as well as approximately 4.2 grams of crack cocaine and three small containers with a white powdery substance that tested positive for fentanyl.
According to the complaint, a .45 caliber Glock 30 pistol was also found in the vehicle. The firearm had allegedly been reported as stolen.
During the search, approximately $4,628.31 cash wrapped in a black band was located in Hurt’s pants pocket, the complaint said. Taylor was also allegedly found to have around $1,104 cash on his person.
All four men were taken into custody, and each was charged with four counts of possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to violate the drug act.
They were arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court Monday morning. Bond was set at $100,000 each. As of Monday afternoon, the men were in custody at North Central Regional Jail.
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