Philadelphia man jailed without bond after North Huntingdon drug arrest
May 11—A Philadelphia man who was arrested after police seized two bricks of suspected heroin in a North Huntingdon drug sting was denied bond Tuesday when he could not provide officials with a verifiable address, according to court records.
District Judge Wayne Gongaware also noted that Rysheid M. "Cheese" Baldwin, 39, may be a threat to the community after township police said they had information that he had been in the area selling drugs.
Baldwin was arrested Monday evening in the parking lot of the Sheetz convenience store along Route 30, near the turnpike interchange, according to court papers filed by Detective Shane Rebel. Baldwin was arraigned on charges of manufacturing, delivery and possession of a controlled substance; possession of heroin; driving on a suspended license and operating a vehicle without functioning rear lighting.
Rebel received information that Baldwin was in the area driving a gold 2004 BMW X5 coupe and selling drugs. He obtained Baldwin's cell phone number from an informant.
Rebel began texting Baldwin Monday afternoon saying that he wanted to buy two bricks of heroin. The pair agreed via text message on a price of $480 for both bricks, though the time and location of the sale had not been determined, court documents said.
According to Rebel, he received a text message from Baldwin about 5 p.m. that "(Baldwin) would be over in 15 (minutes) in the Sheetz parking lot" to complete the transaction.
With other police units assisting, Rebel followed Baldwin's BMW west on Route 30 from Hempfield into North Huntingdon. Rebel reported in court documents that he also was aware that Baldwin's coupe, which had a temporary license plate out of Philadelphia, had malfunctioning tail lights.
When Baldwin pulled into the parking lot, Rebel said he made a traffic stop due to the inoperable lights. Baldwin was driving on a suspended license, Rebel reported.
Baldwin refused to allow a search of his vehicle, so Rebel obtained a warrant from Jeannette District Judge Joseph DeMarchis and called Sgt. Kari Bauer and police dog Zargo.
When police returned to the scene after 7:30 p.m. with the warrant, Zargo signaled there were narcotics in the vehicle. Police seized 115 stamp bags of suspected heroin, $673 and Baldwin's cell phone during the search, Rebel said in court documents.
Baldwin did not have an attorney listed in court documents. A hearing is scheduled May 19.
Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .
