CLEARFIELD – A Wallaceton man who was allegedly found with drugs and a large amount of money during a traffic stop waived the charges to court at his preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Clearfield County Jail.
Lowell T. Way, 52, has been charged by state police at Clearfield with four counts of manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; firearms not to be carried without a license; use/possession of drug paraphernalia; DUI/controlled substance; and five summaries. Way’s bail has been set at $100,000 monetary.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a trooper was on routine patrol Feb. 11 and traveling east on U.S. Route 322 in Bradford Township. He was stopped at a red light in the left turning lane at the intersection with state Route 970.
The trooper observed a black Dodge Stratus stopped to the right of his patrol vehicle. It was extremely close and partially in his lane of travel. When the trooper looked at the driver, later identified as Way, he appeared to be disoriented.
He also observed Way put in eye drops. The trooper was aware that cannabis users often put drops in to reduce redness that it causes in their eyes. He also observed several objects hanging from the rearview mirror that clearly impaired Way’s view.
The trooper waited for the vehicle to proceed straight on Route 322. He turned on his emergency lights to traverse through traffic and catch up to the vehicle. He initiated a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Castelli Truck Wash.
When he approached the vehicle, the trooper immediately noticed a red straw with one end burnt in between Way’s legs, a long foil strip at his feet and a butane torch in the center console, according to the affidavit.
The trooper said Way’s eyes were very glassy, he was distracted and disoriented and he was uncoordinated with handling his cellular phone. He never provided the trooper with his registration but did provide his driver’s license and insurance card.
When the trooper asked Way about the straw, he tried to conceal it. He eventually handed it over to the trooper. Upon examination of the items, it was believed Way used the straw to inhale smoke from hash oil by using the butane torch to heat the foil containing THC hash oil.
The trooper asked Way to exit the vehicle and perform sobriety tests. While administering the field sobriety tests, he stopped and patted Way down for safety purposes. The trooper found a .22 magnum pistol in Way’s rear jean pocket, which was not loaded. Way was subsequently placed in handcuffs, and the trooper terminated the sobriety testing.
When back-up arrived at the scene, troopers searched Way’s vehicle. A search turned up a bag containing 287 grams of suspected crystal methamphetamine; a bag containing 27 grams of suspected cocaine; a second bag containing 4 grams of suspected cocaine; two containers of suspected buprenorphine (12 total pills); a plastic container with a small amount of white powder inside it; a plastic box with suspected THC oil inside it; and a red and clear plastic bag with suspected cocaine (4 grams) and paraphernalia.
Paraphernalia included packaging papers, a bag containing a large amount of sharpie markers, a scale, tweezers, a razor and a metal marijuana pipe. Troopers also located an envelope containing an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 in U.S. Currency; an expired driver’s license was also found in the area of the money and drugs.
Way was taken to the Clearfield Penn Highlands Hospital for the purpose of a blood draw. He was then taken to the county jail. While transporting him, Way began talking to the trooper and apologizing for not telling him about the gun in his pocket. He also talked about winning a large amount of money gambling in multiple casinos over the past several days.
The trooper submitted all of the drug evidence to the state police crime lab for further analysis.