Four individuals were taken into custody in the city after a narcotics investigation led police to discover drugs being trafficked out of a Fifth Avenue residence.
Altoona and state police were surveilling the area of 40th Street and Fifth Avenue on Friday when they determined narcotics were being distributed from a home along the 4000 block of Fifth Avenue, according to a post on the APD’s Facebook page.
Upon the execution of a search warrant, officers heard a crash and saw a male fleeing the residence from a second story window. The male was apprehended and identified as Philadelphia resident Amir Carter, 20. Inside the residence, officers detained Altoona resident Joseph Michael Lojeski, 43, and Philadelphia resident Eric Lamont Eberhart, 24, the post stated.
A search of the residence turned up 16 bricks of heroin, 20 grams of crack cocaine and 78 grams of psychedelic mushrooms worth a total $11,700, as well as $2,010 in cash. During the search, Altoona resident Heather Joy McConahay, 37, returned to the residence and was also detained, the post stated.
Carter and Eberhart were arraigned Saturday by Magisterial District Judge Matthew Dunio on three felony counts of possession with intent to deliver, four misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and a single misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Carter was also charged with one misdemeanor count of evading arrest.
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Carter and Eberhart were remanded to the Blair County Prison in lieu of their respective $400,000 bails.
Lojeski and McConahay were arraigned Monday by Magisterial District Judge Benjamin F. Jones on three felony counts of conspiracy possession with intent to deliver and single misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Lojeski remains free on unsecured $75,000 bail. McConahay was remanded to the Blair County Prison, unable to post $75,000 bail.
Carter, Lojeski and McConahay are scheduled for preliminary hearings in front of Jones, while Eberhart is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in front of Dunio, on June 25.
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