BUCKHANNON – A Charleston man was arrested on drug-related charges following a traffic stop Thursday after other passengers in the vehicle reportedly told police that the methamphetamine found in the car allegedly belonged to him.
Adam S. Heater, 25, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, methamphetamine, a felony, on Thursday, March 5, following a traffic stop on U.S. Route 33.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s filed by investigating officer Deputy Joseph Barcus with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department, Barcus was assisting Patrolman Tanner Collins and Patrolman Angel McCauley of the Buckhannon Police Department with a traffic stop along Route 33 at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday.
The report says Collins informed Barcus that he was about to conduct a search of the 2004 Dodge Stratus involved in the stop after Collins had allegedly found the driver to be in possession of THC oils.
Heater was a passenger riding in the rear passenger-side seat, the file says. Barcus assisted in the search and allegedly found a black backpack in the rear passenger-side seat where Heater had been seated, the complaint says.
When he looked in the backpack, Barcus allegedly found a set of digital scales, multiple empty small plastic bags and a used syringe, according to the complaint. In addition, Barcus reportedly discovered another bag containing a clear crystal-like substance he believed to be methamphetamine; the bag containing the meth was marked in the same manner as the empty bags, the file says.
Barcus’s report says he found the bag containing the meth under the rear seat, in addition to another small plastic bag of a green leafy substance he believed to be marijuana.
The file says that when the deputy asked the driver and other passengers in the vehicle who the methamphetamine belonged to, they reportedly said it belonged to Heater.
Heater was arrested, and Magistrate Kay Hurst set bail at $25,000 cash or surety.
The penalty for a conviction of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance is imprisonment for a term of one to 15 years in the state penitentiary, a fine of up to $25,000 or both.
