Three arraigned on drug charges

When the city police officer approached the 2020 Mazda that he stopped near Park Avenue and Grier Street about 6:20 p.m. Friday, the driver Justin Simmonds “was visibly shaking and taking quick shallow breaths,” according to an affidavit.

The officer had already been told by a dispatcher that Simmonds and another person were in a Mazda and reportedly “transporting a large amount of methamphetamines to the 1200 block of Park,” very close to where the vehicle stop took place.

While talking, Simmonds, 38, of Tampa Florida, also “stuttered in his speech, showing how nervous he was,” the officer wrote in the court document.

“Simmonds stated he drove to Williamsport from Florida to see the lakes. He explained that he arrived in Williamsport” a few hours earlier and was he was on his way back home, the officer said.

Riding with him was Salena Yingling, 25, of Lock Haven, police said.

The Mazda was impounded and then searched after a district judge approved a search warrant.

Hidden inside the car’s engine compartment was a plastic waterproof container with magnets attached to its back, the officer said, adding that inside the container were 90 grams of methamphetamines.

Simmonds and Yingling were arraigned early Saturday morning before District Judge Gary Whiteman on charges of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamines, possession of methamphetamines and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.

In another area drug arrest, alleged drug dealer Nicholas Jones-Wilson, 25, of Philadelphia, was arrested last week following his involvement in three sales of crack cocaine in the city to a confidential informant or an undercover officer, a member of the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit alleged in court records.

Two of the alleged sales occurred in mid-December 2019 and a third happened in mid-January 2020, the officer said.

Following his arraignment before District Judge Aaron Biichle on a total of 12 counts, including three counts each of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and illegal use of a cellphone, Jones-Wilson recently waived his preliminary hearing and is free on bail.

Muncy man jailed on assault-related charges

When Muncy Patrolman Ernest Delp entered Michael and Dautey Trimble’s apartment at 104 S. Main St. in the borough on Saturday, he notice at once “dried blood on the floor,” according to an affidavit.

Police said officers had been called to the apartment to handle a disturbance involving the couple.

As two officers approached the apartment, they saw through an open window “multiple beer cans” on a kitchen table and on the floor as well. “A man and woman were yelling back and forth at one another,” Delp said in the court document.

“Dautey stated that she and Michael were arguing, and he began to push her out the door. Dautey said Michael pushed her on the neck and told her to get out,” Delp said, adding that there was a red-purple mark on the right side of her neck.

“She also had a superficial open wound on the back of her right arm and a cut on her left hand,” the officer said.

When questioned further, Dautey would not say anything else except “I’m afraid,” the officer said.

Following his arraignment before Whiteman on charges of simple assault and harassment, Michael Trimble was initially jailed, but in now free on $10,000 bail.

Inmate faces additional charges

Lycoming County Prison inmate Jamal Cook faces misdemeanor charges of possession of an instrument of crime and possession of a weapon or implement for escape, according to court records filed at Biichle’s office by Lycoming County Detective Stephen Sorage.

The charges stem from an incident on Feb. 21 when Cook, 41, was allegedly found to be carrying a “homemade weapon commonly referred to as a ‘shank.’ The weapon had a piece of plastic filed to a point attached to a pen,” Sorage said in an affidavit.

The weapon was discovered as two correctional officers “were escorting Cook to an area to be strip searched because Cook had (allegedly) threatened to hurt staff members if he wasn’t removed from his assigned cell block,” Sorage said.

Following his arraignment Monday, Cook was recommitted in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Motorist charged with DUI

Arriving on the scene of a reported possible crash in the 100 block of West Houston Avenue in Clinton Township about 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 29, state Trooper Christopher Sulitka found a Honda pickup truck in Stanley Hockenbrock’s driveway.

Sulitka said he had been told that Hockenbrock, 67, was “screaming and causing a scene.” Upon being questioned, Hockenbrock admitted initially that “he had been drinking, but not driving.”

He then changed his story and said he had been driving his mother’s vehicle, the trooper said in an affidavit.

Following the completion of field sobriety tests, Hockenbrock “showed signs of impairment,” Sulitka said, adding that a blood test taken at UPMC Muncy revealed that Hockenbrock’s blood-alcohol content level was .23.

There was nothing else mentioned in the affidavit about whether in fact there had been any crash.

Arraigned before District Judge Jon E. Kemp, on charges of DUI, disorderly conduct, reckless driving and illegally operating a vehicle without a court-ordered ignition-interlock system, Hockenbrock remains jailed in lieu of $2,500 bail.