A Philadelphia man is facing felony drug charges following a traffic stop on Bethlehem Pike that was triggered by an unmanned, stationary license plate reader.
Savon Arthur, 27, has been charged with one felony count of possession with intent to distribute, along with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, in connection with the incident.
According to the criminal complaint, an officer with the Montgomery Township Police Department was patrolling in the area of Bethlehem Pike and Horsham Road on March 30 at 11:08 p.m. when they were alerted by a stationary license plate reader — mounted at the intersection of Bethlehem Pike and Hartman Road — that a Buick was traveling northbound with a suspended registration plate. Police said they confirmed the suspension then located the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop two minutes later in the area of Montgomery Glen Drive and Coventry Circle.
Police made contact with the female driver and her passenger, later identified as Arthur, and noted an odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle, according to the report. Police said the female stated that she was attempting to pick up a friend at the mall, however the complaint notes that the mall was closed at the time and the vehicle was traveling away from it. The female continued to lie to police about where she was traveling to, mentioning the Neshaminy Mall and later a local hotel, the complaint states.
Police said that due to the deceptive behavior of the driver and smell of marijuana, they requested to search the vehicle, at which point the driver provided consent. Police located a black bag in the passenger area of the vehicle, which contained drug paraphernalia, zip lock baggies, methamphetamine and a large stack of $1 bills, according to the report.
Police then requested to check Arthur’s phone for any communications regarding potential drug sales. Arthur reportedly told police that there were things on his phone that could violate his parole, however he then pulled out his phone, entered a passcode and handed it to the officer, the report states.
Investigators said there were multiple text messages on the phone indicating the sale of illegal drugs, the report states. When confronted with the contents of the phone, police said Arthur took responsibility and repeatedly indicated that the female driver was not involved.
Arthur was placed under arrest at 12:06 a.m. on March 31. While being searched, Arthur reportedly pulled a small amount of marijuana and many small orange vials containing suspected crack cocaine from his buttocks, police said. Additionally, $187 was retrieved from Arthur’s front right pocked and his phone was also seized as evidence, pending a request for a search warrant, the report states.
In total, police said they recovered the following items during the incident:
Arthur was arraigned at 10:15 a.m. on March 31 by Magisterial District Judge Andrea Duffy, who set bail at $20,000 cash. He was then remanded to county jail after failing to post bail, and his next court appearance is a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. on April 13 in front of Judge Duffy.
Court documents do not indicate if Arthur has retained a private attorney or if he has been assigned a public defender.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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