DUBOIS – A bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of a DuBois man accused of possessing methamphetamine.
Christopher Roy Sebring, 43, is facing charges of felony manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, as well as misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of misdemeanor intentional possession of a controlled substance.
Sebring failed to appear for his preliminary hearing Friday during centralized court at District Judge Dave Meholick’s office in DuBois.
After the hearing, Meholick ruled that the charges be sent on to the court of common pleas for further disposition and the warrant was requested.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Dec. 5 an off-duty officer spotted Sebring, who was acting suspiciously in a parking lot and notified police.
Another officer in an unmarked vehicle saw the vehicle and followed it as it drove through various lots in a manner consistent with evasive driving.
When the car parked in the empty portion of a parking lot on North Main Street, the officer saw Sebring exit the vehicle and go into a nearby store.
Because the windows on the vehicle were tinted too darkly, the officer ran the vehicle info and learned it was registered to Sebring, who had a suspended driver’s license.
Hours later, after he returned to the vehicle and left the lot, the officer initiated a traffic stop. Sebring claimed the tint on the windows was legal. He was questioned as to what he was doing that day and he said he was shopping.
“Sebring was evasive with answering your affiant’s questions pertaining to his activity for the several hours he was observed,” the officer wrote in the criminal complaint.
Because the officer had dealt with other drug investigations involving Sebring and he was traveling between areas known to have drug activity, the officer requested a canine officer, which reportedly alerted to the presence of controlled substances at both the driver and passenger front doors.
The vehicle was seized and a search warrant was requested.
According to the complaint, the search uncovered a backpack inside the front passenger side footwell. In it was a container holding several empty baggies, and six with a white crystal substance. A plastic tube had more of the crystal substance and a small, rubber container held white powder.
The crime lab found a total of 12.65 grams of methamphetamine in the bags and tube. In addition, the rubber container had 0.37 grams of Fentanyl, according to the report.
