Two men wanted on arrest warrants were taken into custody after police in New Kensington pulled over a car driven by a third man whose license was suspended for DUI.
Westmoreland County Drug Task Force officers, which includes New Kensington cops, and agents with the state Attorney General’s Office were conducting a narcotics suppression detail shortly after 6:30 p.m. June 9 when a blue Audi driven by Bari Coleman was pulled over in the 800 block of Fourth Avenue because his license is suspended for DUI, according to a criminal complaint.
Police said a plastic bag with 1 gram of cocaine was found in the car near Coleman, who has not been charged in connection with the incident.
Court records show Coleman is awaiting trial in Westmoreland County for two felony drug charges filed by county detectives in April 2020.
Investigators said the rear passenger was identified as Stephen Suber, who was taken into custody on an active arrest warrant from Ohio. Court records do not indicate the nature of the crimes for which he was being sought.
Police said the front passenger, Demetrius Andre Williams, was acting nervously and told them that he recently had been released from prison and was “not doing anything he shouldn’t be doing,” the complaint said.
But police said Williams, 32, of the 1800 block of Rebecca Street in New Kensington was wanted on an arrest warrant for “dangerous drugs,” according to the complaint.
Court records show Williams pleaded guilty to a felony firearms charge in 2014 and was sentenced to a maximum of 23 months in prison, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to the same charge in 2018 and was sentenced to up to five years in prison, court records show.
Police said Williams dropped a blue latex glove onto the car’s floorboard as he was being taken into custody that had a bag inside it with 10 grams of cocaine, the complaint said.
When officers confiscated the drugs, Williams said, “Come on, it’s just some coke,” according to the complaint.
Williams was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver along with a charge of drug possession. He is being detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond and faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank Pallone Jr. on June 23.
The drugs that were confiscated, which field-tested positive for cocaine, have an estimated street value of $1,100, according to police.
