Schuylkill Township Man Faces Felony Drug Charges

Neighbors along Hedge Road in Schuylkill Township got a surprise on Monday when a man allegedly fell out of a car and onto a property in the 100 block.

When police were called to the scene, the car was searched and suspected drugs were found, according to a criminal complaint filed in district court.

Joseph R. Morgan III, 23, of Schuylkill Township, faces felony charges of drug possession and possession with intent to deliver along with several misdemeanor charges, including resisting arrest.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Officer Christopher Aquilante, Schuylkill Township police were called to the 100 block of Hedge Road at approximately 5:10 p.m. Monday for a report of an injured subject who was pushed out of a car and into a yard.

When the officer spoke with people standing in the area, he was directed south on South Lane, where he reported seeing two men in the roadway, and one of them who’d just jumped in the passenger side of a white sedan.

When questioned, the two males and the female driver of the sedan denied that anyone had fallen out of the car. The officer wrote in the criminal complaint that he patted down the passenger identified as Morgan and then spoke to the female driver. Police say she gave permission to search the car. 

Aquilante wrote in the criminal complaint that, when searching under the passenger's seat, he recovered a plastic bag with a number of wax paper packets inside. The packets were labeled “Dead Man,” and Aquilante reported that he suspected the packets to be heroin.

“At this point I went back to [Morgan] in an attempt to detain him,” Aquilante wrote in court papers. “As I was about to place handcuffs on him, he pushed away and fled the scene.”

According to Aquilante, he radioed in the description and then continued to search the white sedan. During the search, he allegedly found three small packets of a white substance believed to be crack, one sandwich bag containing a tan substance believed to be crack cocaine and several more wax paper packs of suspected heroin.

In addition, a plastic bag with a substance believed to be marijuana was allegedly recovered on the roadway under the passenger side of the car.

Police from East Vincent Township caught up with the vehicle and took Morgan into custody. He was returned to the scene on South Lane.

Aquilante reported that all of the substances, with the exception of the suspected crack cocaine, field tested positive for the presence of drugs. A test on the suspected crack cocaine produced inconclusive results, according to the criminal complaint.

Morgan was arrested and charged with three felony counts of drug possession, three felony counts of possession with intent to deliver, a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest and related drug charges.

Judge Mark Bruno arraigned Morgan on Sept. 26. He remains in Chester County Prison, unable to post $25,000 cash bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 6 in front of District Judge Theodore Michaels.