Domestic dispute in New Kensington leads to drug charge, 2 warrant arrests

A New Kensington man was arrested after officers responding to a call for a domestic incident said they found evidence of drug dealing in the home he shares with his mother.

Aquay Omar Mitchell, 22, of the 1200 block of Taylor Avenue was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver along with making terroristic threats and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

He was being detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a cash bond set at 10% of $25,000, according to court records.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. on Dec. 15.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that officers were dispatched to Mitchell’s home Nov. 30 after his half-sister reported that he threatened to shoot her.

The woman told officers that Mitchell became irate and threatened to “smoke her” during an argument and refused to let the four people in the house leave, the complaint said. She told police he had crack cocaine but hid it when they pulled up to the house, police said.

When police did a background check on the people in the home, they learned that two of them — Neftali Humphreys and Larry Harris — had active arrest warrants.

Humphreys, who was identified as Mitchell’s girlfriend, was being sought by police in Allegheny County, the complaint said. Harris was wanted by police in Arnold and Middlesex Township. They both were taken into custody.

Court records show that Humphreys, 24, failed to appear for a preliminary hearing in June on three criminal charges involving a motor vehicle accident filed by Pittsburgh police in August 2021.

She was ordered to stand trial on the charges and her bail was revoked, according to court documents.

Harris, 54, was being sought for failing to appear for a preliminary hearing in Middlesex on charges of theft, receiving stolen property and fraudulent use of a vehicle license plate filed in March.

A warrant was issued by Arnold police after Harris failed to show up for a hearing at Pallone’s office on charges of theft, driving with a suspended license and having illegal vehicle documentation.

Officers searched the house after getting a warrant and found a 2.8-gram bag of crack, a digital scale with residue that tested positive for cocaine and a stack of bags used to package drugs for sale, the complaint said.