Attorney: Pine Brook barber shop owner had no knowledge of tire shop drug trade

Joseph Kohut, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

Dec. 6—A Pine Brook barbershop owner and his landlord did not know about the alleged drug trade taking place at an adjacent tire shop, their attorney argued.

Though they share a building, Prime Kutz Barber Shop should not be "lumped in" with its neighbor, Pop's Tires, attorney James Mulligan wrote. The Lackawanna County district attorney's office seeks to use the courts to shutter the businesses as nuisances.

Police charged four people in a raid of the businesses at Capouse Avenue and Ash Street on Nov. 11 after a monthslong drug investigation.

Investigators seized about a third of a pound of marijuana and a handful of other drugs at the tire shop. Police said they found more substances in a "stash bag" that was just moved to a North Washington Avenue home. They also found a handgun reported stolen in South Carolina there, police said.

After the raid, the district attorney's office sought the closure of the two businesses for one year as a "drug nuisance" and a "public nuisance." In their petition, prosecutors argued the corner poses a life-threatening problem for the police and local residents. City officers responded to the area 16 times between Aug. 31, 2021, and Sept. 14 for calls that included fights, shootings and drug use.

In response, Mulligan argued that Corey McCullough, co-owner of the barbershop, was unaware of the alleged drug trade at the tire shop. While the police are no strangers to the area, the calls were to the general area and not to the business, Mulligan said.

During the raid, police found only a small amount of marijuana in the barbershop and a pocketknife belonging to a cleaning lady, Mulligan said.

Mulligan was retained to represent McCullough and the property owners, Mohammed Iftekharuddin and Afzal Jahan Sheikh. It is not clear if an attorney is representing Alfred Robinson, who owns Pop's Tires and is listed in state records as a co-owner of the barbershop. Robinson is in Lackawanna County Prison serving an 18- to 36-month jail sentence for a gun crime.

A hearing is set Dec. 15 before Judge Terrence Nealon.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100, x5187;

@jkohutTT on Twitter.