A Pittsburgh man was arrested and accused Tuesday of smuggling synthetic cannabinoids to Allegheny County jail inmates, according to court documents.
Tyrique Craighead, 33, of Pittsburgh’s Perry North neighborhood, placed the drugs — concealed in an open bag of nacho cheese Doritos — in a trash can inside the bathroom of a district court office in Robinson on Tuesday morning, according to a criminal complaint.
Through a routine investigation by the Allegheny County Jail internal affairs unit, detectives learned in January that inmates Tyreace Platt and Chaz Coles were conspiring to smuggle into the jail synthetic cannabinoids — a lab-made substance similar to the cannabis plant.
Platt placed a call to Craighead on Monday afternoon, telling Craighead “Text this number, he’s gonna do it,” the complaint says. Video surveillance footage from the jail shows Platt walking over to Coles, who handed Platt paperwork.
Platt then told Craighead to “just hand them a bag of Doritos.” He placed another call to Craighead on Monday evening and again around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday — a half hour before Coles was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the Robinson district court office.
Craighead arrived at the court office around 10:30 a.m., entering the bathroom a couple of minutes later, according to the criminal complaint. Detectives, who had been at the court office since 9:30 a.m., went into the bathroom after Craighead left it — discovering the Doritos bag concealing the synthetic cannabinoids.
Detectives arrested Craighead and took him to Allegheny County Jail. He was unable to post bail, according to court records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8 a.m. Feb. 11 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.
