Traffic Stop Leads to Drug Arrest for Coatesville Man

A 36-year-old Coatesville man was arrested in the borough this weekend after a traffic stop turned up drugs and drug paraphernalia in his car, are reporting.

Robert Bearden faces multiple drug charges—including intent to deliver drug paraphernalia—and a charge of driving with a suspended license stemming from the August 25 incident.

According to court documents, at 1:38 p.m. that afternoon, a Phoenixville Police officer pulled Bearden over in front of a home on the 300 block of Vanderslice Street for driving with a suspended license. Bearden had been charged with the same crime in the borough 12 days earlier.

A subsequent search of his Chevrolet Impala produced what was left of a “blunt,” a bottle containing 11 Seroquel pills—a medicine used to treat schizophrenia—that was prescribed to someone not named Robert Bearden, a spoon with burn marks on the bottom, a plastic bag containing several small blue plastic bags of the sort used to package narcotics, and a Ziploc bag containing a white substance.

Bearden explained that the white powder wasn’t cocaine, but the baking soda he uses to cut cocaine. The substance was field tested at the station, and tested negative for cocaine. The blunt, however, tested positive for marijuana.

Bearden was arraigned that evening and released following his posting of $250 bail. He faces preliminary hearing on August 30.