COLUMBIA DEPUTIES SEIZE COCAINE ON A TRAFFIC STOP
Columbia County Sheriff David P. Bartlett reports that a Syracuse woman was arrested on Saturday, April 7, 2018, for a felony drug charge after a vehicle stop for traffic infractions on State Route 23 in the Town of Hillsdale.
On April 7, 2018, at approximately 10:20 am, Deputies Zachary Sohotra and Matthew Leonard were on routine patrol and observed a 2015 Volkswagen GTI traveling eastbound on State Route 23 with an inadequate exhaust and stickers obstructing the rear window. The Deputies initiated a traffic stop and approached the vehicle where they encountered four occupants. During the traffic stop, approximately 6.6 grams of cocaine was located in the vehicle. There was also a quantity of suboxone turned over to Deputies from a passenger who did not have a prescription for the controlled substance and this same passenger was seated where the cocaine was discovered.
Meleya A. McKay, 19, of Syracuse N.Y., was arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, a Class C Felony, and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a Class A Misdemeanor. Ms. McKay was arraigned before the Honorable Judge Brandon in Claverack Town Court and remanded to the Columbia County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail/$5,000 bond. The defendant is scheduled to appear in Hillsdale Town Court on April 18, 2018, at 5:00 pm.
The driver of the vehicle was released with equipment violation tickets returnable to Hillsdale Court at a later date. The other two passengers in the vehicle were not charged.
Ms. McKay was transported to the Columbia County Jail where Corrections Officers located an additional 22 grams of cocaine that she had hidden on her person. The investigation is continuing and additional felony charges are pending.
Assisting Deputies Sohotra and Leonard was Senior Investigator William Foster of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement and Education Unit. Also assisting with this case was the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.
