Cops: Woman who passed out in car busted for heroin
LOWER CHICHESTER » A Linwood woman who was taken into custody for alleged public drunkenness was later found to be hiding a bag containing 10 packets of suspected heroin in her vagina, according to a charging document.
Jessica M. Ferguson, 35, of the 1400 block of Summit Avenue, was arrested Monday. She was additionally charged with possession with the intent to manufacture or deliver, possession of a controlled substance and disorderly conduct.
Though she was immediately remanded to the county prison, she was freed on Tuesday after posting 10 percent of $20,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is listed for Oct. 11 before Magisterial District Judge David R. Griffin.
It was shortly before 11:30 a.m. Monday when township Patrolman Christopher Houpt was dispatched to the Wawa in the 1400 block of Market Street for a report of an unconscious person in a white Ford Freestyle. Houpt arrived to find Ferguson in the driver’s seat of the Freestyle, with the keys in the ignition.
“The defendant appeared to be waking up” as the officer approached the vehicle, states the probable cause affidavit written by Houpt. “Her movements were sluggish and uncoordinated.”
Houpt then spoke with the woman and found her speed slurred and her pupils constricted the affidavit states. The officer then asked the woman to exit her vehicle to speak with him and to be evaluated by paramedics.
Ferguson “had difficulty maintaining her balance,” and the officer directed her to sit on the curb for her safety.
When the officer asked Ferguson if she had anything illegal or dangerous in the vehicle, she responded, “No,” the affidavit states.
The officer then requested permission to search the vehicle.
“I don’t have anything, go ahead and search,” she told the officer, according to the affidavit.
Several medications were found inside the vehicle, but paramedics were able to determine that none of the medications were controlled substances.
According to the affidavit, Ferguson refused medical attention and became combative with the paramedics. At that point, she was taken into custody for alleged public drunkenness, handcuffed and placed in the rear of the patrol vehicle.
At police headquarters, Ferguson immediately requested to use the restroom. She also told police that some of the medication found in her vehicle was old and could be thrown away – reportedly differing from her previous statements.
“The defendant adamantly insisted on using the restroom,” the affidavit states. Houpt then contacted Delaware County Emergency Services and requested a female officer be dispatched to the station.
Chester Township Police Officer Amber Davenport responded and searched Ferguson.
“Officer Davenport did locate and recover a clear plastic sandwich bag concealed inside the defendant’s vagina. Inside the sandwich bag were 10 small Zip-lock bags, each containing a blue wax-type paper with the Monster Energy Drink logo stamped on them,” the affidavit states. “The blue wax paper was filled with a powdered substance suspected to be heroin.”