Metro

Two Philadelphia residents are behind bars on drug charges after Altoona police conducted a narcotics investigation Friday at a local hotel.

William Matthews, 21, and Ajee Shari Chriswell-Brooker, 31, were arraigned Saturday before Magisterial District Judge Benjamin F. Jones on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy possession with intent to deliver, along with misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Unable to post $300,000 bail each, they were remanded to the Blair County Prison.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the two were staying at the Wingate by Wyndham Hotel on the 900 block of Chestnut Avenue, Altoona.

Police, including K-9 Blue, were conducting an investigation and entered the second floor of the hotel where Blue alerted to the presence of drugs in a room occupied by Matthews and Chriswell-Brooker.

The two told police they were in Altoona to visit family and said they traveled to Altoona in a rental car that was parked at the rear of the hotel.

Blue alerted to the odor of drugs on the driver’s side of the white Chevrolet Equinox, police reported, noting that the vehicle was registered to an address in Southampton, Bucks County.

Police determined the vehicle had most recently traveled from the Philadelphia area to Altoona on Feb. 3, the report states.

A search warrant for the room and vehicle turned up a gray duffle bag in the room. The bag contained Chriswell-Brooker’s ID and a substantial amount of packaging material, including purple wax packets and clear bags. A convenience store bag held additional packaging material, including more purple wax packets and clear bags. A Morton salt container had a false bottom, police said, and inside were 26 purple wax packets stamped with “AMIRI” and containing suspected heroin/fentanyl. The wax packets were individually packed into clear bags, commonly referred to as “Philly” bags that contain two to three times more substance than a typical heroin/fentanyl wax packet, police reported.

The search also turned up $1105 in cash in Chriswell-Brooker’s pants and $40 in a jacket. Three cellphones were also seized, the report states.

In the vehicle, police found more packaging material, including latex gloves and rubber bands. Police also found a small tin with suspected methamphetamine and a small piece of suspected crack cocaine.

A criminal background check of Matthews shows he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver in October 2023. He pleaded guilty to firearms not to be carried without a license in March 2025, police reported, and he has been investigated a number of times for narcotics trafficking.

Chriswell-Brooker’s criminal history shows she was investigated by other agencies for narcotics-related crimes and has been convicted of aggravated assault, possessing instruments of a crime and forgery.

Both Matthews and Chriswell-Brooker are scheduled for preliminary hearings Feb. 18 before Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio.