Kiski Township police said a phony car inspection sticker and a confidential informant’s tip helped them stop a suspected methamphetamine deal last Thursday.
A criminal complaint filed in the case said a pickup driven by Jacqueline D. Pratt, 50, of Avonmore drew an officer’s attention because it appeared to have a fake inspection sticker and the officer knew Pratt’s license was suspended.
Pratt had been on the police department’s radar because, according to the complaint, a confidential informant for the state Attorney General’s Office had said she was expected to receive a half-pound shipment of meth.
As the officer approached Pratt’s pickup in a store parking lot, an SUV carrying James Francis Sabino, 33, also of Avonmore, pulled up next to Pratt. That also drew the officer’s attention because the officer had been trying to track down Sabino to serve him with arrest warrants, according to the complaint.
The officer said he saw Sabino approach Pratt with money in hand, but the man ran when he saw the officer’s marked police car approaching.
Sabino swung at the officer when the officer chased him, prompting the officer to use a Taser to subdue the suspect, the complaint said.
The officer then returned to the store and found Pratt inside “attempting to conceal herself shopping as if she had been in the store,” the complaint said.
Police said Pratt had a large baggie of meth, 11 unknown pills and more than $1,400 in her purse, and police later found she also was hiding 67 grams of meth — or about 2 ounces — in her bra.
Police charged Pratt with illegal possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, drug possession with intent to deliver, driving with a suspended license and having a fraudulent inspection sticker. Sabino was charged with illegal possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest, escape and disorderly conduct.
Both were taken to Armstrong County Jail after failing to post $20,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 11.
