May 12, 2016 2 min read

An Ohio man, already wanted on a warrant obtained by Washington County Drug Task Force, faces more drug charges after he was found with several bundles of suspected heroin when he was taken into custody Wednesday night by South Strabane Township police.

Darren Brown, 47, of Youngstown, was wanted on a warrant signed earlier in the day by District Judge Robert Redlinger on charges of possession and delivery of heroin and paraphernalia. Brown and a residence in the 10 block of West Chestnut Street was the focus of an investigation by the task force into heroin trafficking. He reportedly sold heroin to a confidential informant.

Two task force detectives were conducting surveillance on the building just before 9 p.m. when they notified the detective who filed the charges that Brown just left and was a front-seat passenger in a gold Buick. The car went south on North Main Street and continued to East Maiden Street, where it turned left.

A South Strabane police sergeant spotted the car near Dunn Avenue and attempted to stop it. The car continued for several blocks before stopping at Oak Hill Drive.

Brown was removed from the vehicle and told he was being arrested. Police said he became belligerent and demanded to know why he was being arrrested. He reportedly resisted efforts by officers to place him in handcuffs. Police warned they would use a Taser if he continuned to resist. Police used a Taser twice on his leg before they could take him into custody.

When he was being placed in the cruiser, two bundles of suspected heroin fell to the ground. The driver of the car gave police permission to check the car and nothing was found. He was taken to South Strabane’s police station and searched amd was found to have three more bundles of heroin as well as $841, a cellphone and an Access card bearing a woman’s name.

Brown was arraigned before District Judge Traci McDonald on the warrant as well as the new charges of posession and possession with intent to deliver heroin, possession of paraphernalia and resisting arrest. He was placed in Waashington County jail on $300,000 bond. He is scheduled for preliminary hearings May 25 before Redlinger and District Judge Jay Weller.