Two Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, residents were detained in Carroll County, Maryland, last week after a traffic stop.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, just before 2:00 PM on Thursday, deputies conducting traffic enforcement on Baltimore Boulevard as part of Pro-Active Community Enforcement (PACE) observed a GMC SUV following too closely to the sedan in front of it, as well as a passenger who was not wearing a seatbelt. They stopped it on the 500 block of Baltimore Boulevard.
The driver of the vehicle, Julia-Taylor Lease, 38, told deputies she had a handgun in her purse. Deputies secured it.
Based on observations, a drug-sniffing canine was dispatched to the scene, which revealed the presence of drugs in the vehicle. A search yielded a digital scale, a cellphone, and more than $280 in cash.
Maurice Dennis Bray, 30, a passenger in the vehicle, acted as if he was pulling something from his pants leg, according to authorities. Authorities claim they found the object, which turned out to be a plastic baggie containing a white rock substance suspected to be crack cocaine.
Bray fled as he was being handcuffed, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He was apprehended, although he resisted being arrested. Bray was eventually pushed on the ground and handcuffed.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Lease does not have a concealed handgun permit in Maryland, and Bray is not permitted to own a weapon in the state.
Both suspects were transported to the Carroll County Detention Center.