A Pittsburgh man is in federal custody after police said they pulled his car over in Carrick on Wednesday and found 35 bricks of fentanyl, or 1,750 stamp bags.
Tyrell Revis, 18, was charged in federal court with possession of fentanyl as well as crack cocaine, which police said they found in a diaper bag.
Mr. Revis appeared briefly before a U.S. magistrate judge and was ordered detained pending a hearing next week.
In a criminal complaint, an Allegheny County detective, Josh Stegena, said he was contacted Thursday by a Munhall detective, James Caterino, who was following Mr. Revis’ car because he knew Mr. Revis was wanted for questioning in a homicide and because he’d just seen him meet with a known drug dealer.
Detective Caterino followed the car into the city of Pittsburgh, where Detective Stegena joined in the surveillance and said he saw Mr. Revis’ car traveling up to 65 mph in a 25-mph zone.
Detective Stegena said he pulled Mr. Revis’ car over at Brownsville Road and Maytide Street after Mr. Revis drove through a red light.
He said Mr. Revis and a woman in the passenger seat started “frantically moving” inside the car, as Mr. Revis twisted in his seat and made throwing motions toward the center of the rear passenger floorboard. The woman made similar movements, police said. A child was also in a child seat in the back of the car.
Detectives Stegena and Caterino drew their guns and ordered the pair out of the car.
Detective Caterino said he saw paper-wrapped objects on the front passenger seat which he knew to be heroin or fentanyl. The officers put Mr. Revis and the woman in handcuffs.
Police said Mr. Revis admitted the drugs were his, and a city officer took him to Allegheny County police headquarters.
The woman stayed behind while police waited for a female officer to arrive to search her and to make arrangements for custody of the child. When the woman asked officers to retrieve some items for the child, a detective removed the diaper bag and found a loaded gun on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat. He also found a baggie inside a pocket of the diaper bag containing 18 grams of crack cocaine, according to the complaint.
The woman, who is not identified, was taken to police headquarters.
A search of the car turned up a total of 35 bricks of fentanyl and a digital scale, police said.
Mr. Revis will remain in custody until a detention hearing on May 19 in U.S. District Court.
Torsten Ove: tove@post-gazette.com.
First Published: May 14, 2021, 12:24 a.m.