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Traffic stop leads to gun charges

Marijuana, rolling papers also found

A traffic stop in Allegheny Township has landed two people behind bars after police allegedly found methamphetamine and a gun.

Michael R. Bowmaster, 41, of 278 Maple Hollow Road, was taken into custody about 1 a.m. Thursday after he was pulled over on Kuhn Lane in Duncansville and police allegedly found a handgun between the driver’s seat and center console of his car.

According to charges filed by Allegheny Township police, Bowmaster was pulled over because he was hauling a trailer with an expired registration and no lights for its plate as well as a faulty driver’s side tail light.

Bowmaster’s passenger, 35-year-old Robert A. Wiseneskie, had a warrant for his arrest through the Blair County Sheriff’s Office, and when he was taken into custody, police allegedly found a marijuana pipe in his pocket along with methamphetamine in a small plastic bag with gold-colored skulls printed on it.

A backpack on the passenger-side floor at Wiseneskie’s feet had a glass jar with a small amount of pot in it along with rolling papers, police added.

Bowmaster agreed to allow officers to search his car and a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield .45 ACP handgun was found between the driver’s seat and the center console, according to police. Bowmaster does not have a permit to carry a concealed firearm, police noted.

Police allegedly found a prescription pill bottle with Bowmaster’s name on it for 5 mg oxycodone tablets that contained 11 of the 5 mg pills along with 10 acetaminophen and hydrocodone pills and a small plastic bag decorated with gold-colored skulls that contained methamphetamine.

Bowmaster was booked on a felony charge of carrying a gun without a license and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, plus several traffic citations related to the trailer.

Wiseneskie is charged with misdemeanor drug possession as well as possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Magisterial District Judge Steven Jackson arraigned both Bowmaster and Wiseneskie on Thursday morning and set bail for each at 10 percent of $20,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

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