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A Coupon woman is back in jail less than a week after her release.
Melissa Maybush, 35, was taken into custody by Altoona police on Tuesday after officers were called to the 3900 block of Burgoon Road for a person sleeping on a back porch. They found Maybush asleep on a couch inside the home, according to charges filed by Altoona police.
Maybush had been released from Blair County Prison on unsecured bonds on Sept. 26, after she appeared before Magisterial District Judge Steven Jackson for preliminary hearings on two other cases.
Maybush was first arrested by Logan Township police on July 10 after she allegedly shoplifted merchandise from Boscov's in the Logan Town Centre. Officers caught up with Maybush near the I-99 interchange at 17th Street, and when she was taken into custody, police allegedly found two stamp bags of heroin and 10 clonazepam pills.
Maybush was released on an unsecured $10,000 bond that night after her arraignment on misdemeanor drug possession and summary retail theft charges, but she failed to appear for her preliminary hearing on Aug. 8.
During a traffic stop in the early morning of Sept. 13, drugs and drug paraphernalia were allegedly found in a backpack that Maybush was holding while a passenger. Maybush allegedly gave Allegheny Township police her sister's name, and she was released, with police telling her to expect charges in the mail.
The next day, Allegheny Township police learned Maybush's true identity and that she was wanted for failing to appear in court. When she was tracked down at the Altoona Grand Hotel on Sept. 19, officers allegedly found $130 in counterfeit money as well as five bags of suspected heroin, 12 empty bags and a bag of methamphetamine, police contend.
Maybush was jailed on Sept. 20 after Magisterial District Judge Ben Jones changed her unsecured bail from the July charges to $10,000 cash bail. Jones also arraigned Maybush on charges of felony forgery along with counts of misdemeanor drug possession and paraphernalia possession stemming from her arrest at the hotel. Bail was set in that case at $25,000 cash, and Maybush was lodged in jail.
After Maybush waived both those cases on to Blair County Court on Sept. 26, prosecutors agreed to a bail modification and she was released.
Maybush was also charged by summons on Monday with false identification to police, false reports and possession of drug paraphernalia stemming from the Sept. 13 traffic stop. Maybush is scheduled to appear before Jackson on Oct. 10 for her preliminary hearing on that case.
As for the incident on Tuesday in which Maybush was arrested inside the Burgoon Road home, she has been charged with felony criminal trespass.
Her bail was set by Jones at $10,000 cash, and she remains in jail with her next scheduled appearance set for Wednesday at Central Court.
Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458.