Jan 23, 2013 2 min read

A Mt. Pleasant Township man was arrested Wednesday morning on drug charges stemming from an investigation launched when township police started getting complaints from residents in the area about possible drug activity.

William Brian Jemison, 32, of 55 Second St., Westland, was taken into custody at his home without incident, said township police Chief Lou McQuillen.

Police also served a search warrant. Found inside the house, according to police, were six bundles of suspected heroin, about $1,000, a loaded .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun and drug paraphernalia. Assisting police in the search and arrest were members of the Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force, sheriff’s deputies, the state police vice unit and Cecil Township’s K-9 officer.

McQuillen said his department has been working on the investigation for several months.

“This is one of the more residential areas in the township,” McQuillen said of the Westland neighborhood. “The residents were complaining about a lot of vehicle traffic and seeing people that they had never seen before.”

In addition to the complaints, police said they had arrested several people on heroin charges who indicated they purchased the drugs from Jemison.

Police said they started working with a confidential informant and witnessed at least one hand-to-hand drug deal between the informant and Jemison and also saw the informant enter the Westland home to purchase drugs on several occasions.

Jemison was arraigned before District Judge David Mark on four counts each of possession and possession with intent to deliver heroin and criminal use of a communications device. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 1 before District Judge Valarie Costanzo.

McQuillen said more charges will be filed against Jemison based on what was found during the search of his home.