Police say Unity traffic stop uncovered meth, drug paraphernalia

A Hempfield couple pulled over along Route 30 late Tuesday for an expired registration were arrested after police say they discovered methamphetamine, $1,900, and drug paraphernalia hidden in the car.

Stacie Lee Miller, 49, and Gordon W. Heatherington, 47, were pulled over in a red Mercedes coupe driven by Miller after Trooper Donald Ament noticed the car had an expired license plate registration along Route 30 west near Beatty Road in Unity about 10:30 p.m.

Ament reported in a complaint filed with District Judge Michael Mahady that Miller initially claimed she had just bought the car from a woman in Ligonier, but did not have an opportunity to transfer ownership.

After Ament discovered Miller had multiple drug-related warrants pending in Fayette County and was driving on a suspended license, Ament said Miller admitted it was not her car, but she had been driving it “three or four weeks.”

Court records state Miller refused Ament’s request to search the vehicle, so he called Latrobe Sgt. Robert Derk and his police dog, Zeus, to the scene.

Ament reported Zeus discovered a bag of suspected methamphetamine hidden in a zippered plastic bag in the rear floor on the driver’s side. A prescription pill container and $1,900, a digital scale and methamphetamine smoking pipes were found in other areas of the car, police said.

Ament said police found Heatherington had three grams of suspected methamphetamine “tucked down the front of his pants” during a subsequent search.

The couple is charged with multiple drug possession and delivery charges. Miller also is charged with multiple traffic offenses.

Miller was ordered by Mahady to be held in the county prison after failing to post $75,000 bond and Heatherington was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bond.