CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man allegedly caught with various drugs during a traffic stop was scheduled for court Tuesday.
Jordon J. Lance, 38, is charged with felony delivery of a controlled substance, plus misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and use/possession of drug paraphernalia.
Lance had all charges held for county court following a preliminary hearing on Tuesday. He’s incarcerated at Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
According to court documents, Lawrence Township police were on patrol Oct. 6 in the area of Daisy Street Extension and state Route 879 when they saw a brown Kia Soul.
It was discovered that the vehicle was registered to Lance, who police say is a known drug user with a suspended driver’s license.
As they initiated a traffic stop and approached, there was reportedly a very strong odor of marijuana that could be detected “from a distance.”
Inside the vehicle, Lance was observed in the passenger’s seat; the driver was identified as Amber L. Johnson, 39, who is reportedly another known drug user from Clearfield.
After Johnson found her insurance was cancelled for lack of payment and couldn’t produce registration information, she was asked about her recent whereabouts.
She said she had visited a friend’s home, which according to police, is a known drug residence, and was now going out to Bigler to “spin.”
When asked, Johnson claimed she hadn’t smoked any marijuana and that it was probably Lance. Lance did indicate it was his marijuana and also said he had a medical marijuana card.
As Lance went to retrieve his wallet from the center console, it was apparent to officers that Lance was trying to conceal something from them.
“He wouldn’t open the center console the whole way and held the lid down as he searched for his wallet,” police wrote in the affidavit.
At one point, an officer observed a torch lighter and upon request Lance removed it. Afterwards, he immediately closed the console.
“The behavior of Johnson and Lance was very suspicious and officers suspected criminal activity was afoot,” the affidavit states.
It was also found that Lance had a “dangerous drugs” warrant out of New Jersey that was non-extraditable.
While the warrants check was being done, an officer observed a metal weight near the shifter in plain view, and when asked, Lance said he used it to weigh his marijuana.
In an interview with police, Johnson claimed she hadn’t used controlled substances recently and wasn’t on any prescription medications.
When asked why she needed to travel all the way to Bigler to play “skill games,” she said she liked the machines out there, even though she was “basically donating money.”
Johnson indicated she’d just left her brother’s home, and so was confronted with her previous statement about having just left her friend’s house.
She claimed her brother wasn’t home and that’s why they went to visit her friend. However, Lance told a different story saying he was with Johnson’s brother while she was with her friend.
Police directed Lance to retrieve his medical marijuana from his backpack to determine that it was in its original dispensary container since they had detected such a strong odor of marijuana.
As Lance rooted through his backpack, he was reportedly trying to conceal items, and when asked to bring the bag to the patrol unit, he indicated he wouldn’t do that.
The officer had Lance discontinue his search for safety reasons since he couldn’t see inside the backpack and Lance was trying to conceal something.
Johnson claimed she didn’t have anything inside the vehicle and was asked why Lance was taking his bag with medical marijuana to play skills games, and Johnson said he took the backpack everywhere.
Lance declined to provide police with consent to search his vehicle, and officers advised of their intention to obtain a search warrant when a state police K-9 unit wasn’t available.
Johnson was asked to exit the vehicle, and when she did, she only partially opened her door and slid out as if she were trying to conceal something.
Outside the vehicle, she kept her right hand in her sweatshirt coat pocket. Because field sobriety tests would be done, the officer asked if she had anything that could harm him prior to a pat down.
Johnson indicated she had two “sticks,” or used syringes, which she claimed to be disposing for her brother since his wife was unaware of his drug use.
Police questioned this because she had previously stated she didn’t actually see her brother to which she claimed she picked them up for him while at the house.
As officers secured the vehicle for towing, they observed a Ziploc bag containing a large quantity of suspected crystal methamphetamine lying on the floor near the driver’s seat.
The affidavit noted that it was not removed and remained inside the vehicle until police could obtain and execute a search warrant.
At the time of search, police opened the driver’s side door where Johnson had been seated and located three separate bags of suspected crystal meth, a gold pan with residue and a digital scale.
Officers believed Johnson was aware of the items and tried to conceal them when she got out of the vehicle during the initial on-scene investigation.
On the passenger’s side where Lance was seated, officers located three bags containing suspected cocaine; 16 stamp bags containing suspected heroin and fentanyl and one small bag containing suspected crystal meth.
In the backseat, police reportedly found a shoebox containing a baggie of rubber bands. In Lance’s backpack, there was a bag with numerous bags and stamp bags commonly used for the sale and distribution of controlled substances, as well as a digital scale with residue.
Within a large pocket on the backpack, there was a safe containing various bags of suspected crystal meth, along with Lance’s medical marijuana, new/used plastic bags and two small Ziploc bags with an unknown powdery substance.
In the pocket, there was also a container of small baggies and drug residue; numerous small rubber bands were scattered throughout the bag.
As a result of the search, police allegedly seized 3.5 ounces of crystal meth; 2.8 ounces of cocaine; 4.11 grams of heroin and fentanyl and 1.77 grams of an unknown white substance.
Johnson is also charged with felony delivery of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and use/possession of drug paraphernalia, plus two summaries.
Online court documents list Johnson’s case as inactive with no scheduled preliminary hearing date.
