The Mercer County Narcotics Task Force concluded a two-month investigation yesterday with two arrests and the seizure of drugs and a loaded handgun, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri reported.
According to authorities, at approximately 4:30 p.m. on September 12, officers attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop on Pennington Avenue of Alan Harper, the target of the investigation.
Harper attempted to elude police and an unknown object was thrown from the 2006 white Infiniti. After a brief pursuit, Harper and his passenger were taken into custody without further incident.
The unknown object thrown from the vehicle was recovered and found to be a fully loaded Glock 23 handgun reported stolen from Washington Township, Pa.
Detectives then executed search warrants of Harper’s vehicle and Kent Street residence. Six grams of crack cocaine were found in the vehicle and 45 bricks of heroin were found in the residence. The estimated street value of the seized narcotics is $7,350.
Officers with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Hamilton and Trenton police, under the command of the prosecutor’s Special Investigations Unit, conducted the investigation and made the arrests.
Harper, age 40, is charged with two counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, two counts of possession with the intent to distribute, possession with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, unlawful possession of a weapon, certain persons not to possess a firearm and eluding. The prosecutor’s office has filed a motion to have him detained.
The passenger in Harper’s Infiniti, Parrish Whitmore, 23, of Trenton, is charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with the intent to distribute, possession with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, unlawful possession of a weapon and certain persons not to possess a firearm.
Despite having been charged, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.