BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested Monday after allegedly possessing heroin and materials typically used to distribute it in the wake of an early-morning wellness check.
Richard T. Fogle III, 30, of Buckhannon, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver heroin, a felony.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Deputy Cole Bender with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on Monday, Sept. 27, at about 4:30 a.m., Bender spotted a 2012 silver Ford Fiesta with its front headlight high beams on parked on the shoulder of Route 20 North, just outside the white line. Bender drove a few miles north of where the vehicle was parked, conducted a traffic stop on another vehicle and then turned around and came back to find the vehicle in the same location.
Bender pulled in behind the vehicle to do a wellness check. Bender spoke with Fogle, who said he was “OK,” according to the file. Bender had a ride-along passenger Cody Reed, who was a deputy sheriff out of Braxton County, and when Reed approached the vehicle from the passenger side, he allegedly observed a glass smoking device with white residue in an open center compartment, the file says.
Bender detained Fogle and conducted a vehicle search.
During the course of the search, Bender and Reed allegedly found the following items: several wax papers, often wrapped together with a rubber band with a white powdery substance inside them which appeared to be heroin; a glass smoking device with white residue; a pink metal straw with white residue on the inside; a large plastic bag containing several other small plastic bags often used in the packaging and delivery of controlled substances; a small glass vial with a white powdery substance inside; a small bag of 500 rubber bands; two working scales; and one broken scale.
Upshur County Magistrate Mark Davis set bond at $25,000 cash only.
The penalty for a conviction of possession with intent to deliver heroin is confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than five years, a fine of up to $15,000 or both.
