Police: Man found loitering on porch in Parks Township had warrant for his arrest
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Parks Township police took into custody a man whom they said was loitering on the back porch of a home and had an arrest warrant issued for him by authorities elsewhere in the Alle-Kiski Valley.
Police responding to a report of a man trying to break into a home at about 7:15 a.m. on Jan. 11 found Demar Dwayne Harvey, 26, on the back porch of a house in the 600 block of Lincoln Street in the township’s North Vandergrift neighborhood, according to Harvey’s arrest papers.
Police said they were familiar with Harvey. The occupants told them he was not staying at the house, and they did not want him on the property, according to the criminal complaint.
Harvey told police he was “basically homeless,” but after being arrested he listed an address on 10th Street in Erie as his residence, the complaint said.
Sgt. John Arce, who arrested Harvey, said he was not initially detained and walked away from the property.
He was taken into custody after an Armstrong County 911 dispatcher reported he was wanted on an active warrant issued out of Vandergrift, the complaint said.
Court records show Harvey was ordered to stand trial in Westmoreland County Court on charges of felony attempted criminal trespass filed Sept. 10 by Vandergrift police.
Harvey was arrested about a block away from the Parks Township home and taken to the Armstrong County Jail, where he will be detained until being transferred to the Westmoreland County jail to await trial.
Arce wrote in the complaint that after releasing Harvey to jail personnel, Arce headed back to Parks but was summoned back to the Armstrong County Jail.
Jail officials said a bag containing suspected narcotics fell out of Harvey’s sock while he was being strip searched, the complaint said.
The contents of the bag came back positive for methamphetamine when Arce tested it at the police station, the complaint said. The drugs were sent to a state police crime lab for additional testing.
Harvey was charged with a felony count of possession of contraband along with misdemeanor charges of loitering and manufacturing a controlled substance. Arce said the charges were filed after consulting with the Armstrong County District Attorney’s Office.