CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man, who was the subject of a standoff at his Turnpike Avenue residence in September, will stand trial for selling drugs.
Stephen J. McLaughlin, 52, is charged with felony counts of manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and dealing in proceeds of unlawful acts, as well as misdemeanor counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, obstructing administration of law, disorderly conduct, intentional possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
After a preliminary hearing during centralized court on Wednesday, District Judge James Glass ruled all charges be sent on to the court of common pleas for further disposition.
McLaughlin is free after posting $100,000 bail on Sept. 25.
The charges stem from an incident on Sept. 23 after police encountered Chad Andrew Schwartz, 53, Clearfield, who had 33 grams of methamphetamine that he said he bought from Stephen J. McLaughlin at his residence. He advised them that McLaughlin had guns.
McLaughlin refused to come out of his home, leading police to shut down Turnpike Avenue for several hours from McBride Street to Elwood Avenue and the Driving Park was secured as well, according to the Clearfield Fire Department.
According to the affidavit, Schwartz advised police that McLaughlin had several ounces of methamphetamine in a dresser drawer in a bedroom. He also saw McLaughlin had several handguns throughout the home.
In a written statement, Schwartz said “a lot of people that buy drugs off of him (McLaughlin) are increasingly becoming more fearful of him because of his IV meth and cocaine use and his paranoia is very dangerous to the community.”
He also wrote that “I believe he is increasingly becoming more a danger to our community. I have to agree to do whatever I can to get him off the street and hopefully get him some help.”
Because of this information, police obtained a search warrant for McLaughlin’s residence. Representatives from the county sheriff’s office also responded to the scene because McLaughlin possessing guns was a violation of an active protection from abuse order.
When they knocked on the door three times, there was no response. They manually breached the door where they found a woman who was detained. McLaughlin retreated to the right rear corner of the residence, barricading himself in his room, police said.
Although officers attempted multiple times to speak with McLaughlin, he only responded by saying “get out of my house”.
One officer was able to make contact by phone with McLaughlin who made statements about harming himself and allegedly said he was “calling a friend for a favor to come take care of the officers on scene.”
The woman advised police that McLaughlin may possess an AR-15 rifle and he had multiple pistols in the home. She mentioned he had a rocket propelled launcher but was unsure if he had ammunition for it.
Eventually, McLaughlin decided to comply with officers and three firearms were secured before he was taken into custody, according to a police report.
