Police arrest Johnstown man on drug charges
Officers turn up information on suspected drug ring
Trending
From Mirror staff reports
A Johnstown man is behind bars in Blair County after Altoona police were dispatched to check on an unconscious male behind the wheel of a vehicle and turned up information on a drug ring.
According to court documents, police located the vehicle March 28 on the 900 block of Sixth Avenue and found Elijah Russell Giardina, 20, of Johnstown behind the wheel.
During the investigation, Giardina twice gave police false identification. While talking with police, Giardina appeared drowsy and confused and his eyes were fixed and constricted, the report states, noting police had to deactivate their emergency lights to avoid Giardina from becoming distracted and disoriented.
After being unable to track an officer's pen, Giardina declined to perform other field sobriety tests, the report states. He also refused a blood draw.
In plain view in the vehicle, police saw tin foil with burned black residue in the back seat, a backpack containing plastic bags and a smoking device, multiple plastic straws and multiple glassine packets consistent with packaging narcotics.
Giardina was found to have multiple warrants for his arrest, one of which was for fleeing a traffic stop in Johnstown.
An unconscious female was found in the back seat of the 2022 Dodge Challenger, and while police successfully woke her, she was transported to UPMC Altoona. She also gave police false identification and was eventually identified as Harmoney Rose Hunt, 24, also of Johnstown.
After Hunt was treated at the hospital, she was transported to the Altoona Police Department, where she agreed to talk to police. She told police that she and Giardina, along with two people she knows as "Gee" and "Tee" traveled to Philadelphia multiple times in the past week where Giardina and "Gee" purchased narcotics and sold them in the Altoona area.
She said Giardina used multiple cellphones to arrange the purchases and sales and said the cellphone she had in her possession when she was arrested was one of the phones used, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
She told police there was a second phone in the vehicle that Giardina used and added that the vehicle was a rental and neither she or Giardina were on the rental agreement. In addition, she told police that the Sixth Avenue home she and Giardina just left was where "Gee" lived and "Gee" just sold them narcotics.
Police applied for and received multiple search warrants for the car and cellphones. During a search of the car, police found 11 red plastic straws, five pieces of tin foil with burnt black residue, five small rubber bands, 10 empty "flamerz" blue glassine packets, 24 empty "chu" glassine packets, 40 clear zip top plastic bags, 25 unlabeled blue glassine packets, one metal smoking device, two glass smoking devices, one rubber smoking device, a gray Nokia Tracfone, $49 in small bills, 10 "flamerz" blue glassine was packets with a white powder substance, seven "chu" blue glassine was packets with a white powder substance -- these packets depict a Pikachu character; a torn plastic bag containing cocaine and cellophane containing two white rocks, about 4 grams, suspected to be fentanyl.
In reviewing data on an iPhone 8, police found a number of messages arranging the purchase and sale of narcotics, including Giardina negotiating the price of "Pikachu" and "Flamerz" in text message threads. There were also selfie photos of Giardina with large amounts of cash. In the CashApp history, police found multiple transactions in various amounts to "Gee" and others.
Location history shows the phone had been to Philadelphia, then Johnstown, Ebensburg and Altoona in recent days.
Giardina was arraigned Friday evening before Magisterial District Judge Andrew L. Blattenberger on two felony charges of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, two felony counts of criminal use of a communication facility, six felony counts of possession with intent to deliver, six misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, two misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor count of providing false identification to police and a misdemeanor count of DUI.
Unable to post $250,000 bail, he was remanded to the Blair County Prison. His preliminary hearing is set for April 17 before Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio.
Hunt faces felony counts of dealing in unlawful proceeds, criminal use of a communication facility, possession with intent to deliver and misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance, conspiracy - possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Her case remains inactive, according to online court documents.
While police identified "Gee" and "Tee," charges have not been filed against them, according to online court records.