Vandergrift police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call accused a couple of keeping the cocaine and marijuana they used or sold within reach of two young children.

John Edward Johnston Jr., 30, of the 3900 block of Greenwood Drive in Allegheny Township was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of children and possession of drugs with the intent to deliver, which are felonies, along with five misdemeanor counts of drug possession.

Johnston was being detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $5,000 cash bond, according to court records. He faces a May 30 preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.

A warrant for Johnston’s arrest was issued after he failed to appear for a hearing on four felony counts of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver filed by Lower Burrell police in November, court records show. A preliminary hearing for those charges is scheduled before Peck Yakopec on April 18.

Stephanie Ray Nicely, 25, of Emerson Street Court in Vandergrift faces two felony counts of child endangerment and five misdemeanor counts of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

She was charged by summons and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing before Peck Yakopec on May 30.

Officers responding to a call at 6 a.m. April 3 for a fight at Nicely’s Emerson Street home wrote in a criminal complaint that they could hear the couple from outside arguing about money, but nobody answered when they repeatedly knocked and rang the doorbell.

An officer got inside through the back door as an unidentified man was leaving the house, police said.

Nicely appeared “shaken,” police said, and she told them Johnston left the house before they arrived.

Police said he was was found hiding in a closet when an officer searching the house opened the closet door and a baseball bat fell to the floor, the complaint said.

Johnston was ordered out of the closet at gunpoint and taken into custody after the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a warrant was issued for his arrest, police said.

Johnston responded to his arrest by offering to do “work” for the police, the complaint said. Police said he told them he could help by setting up people to buy narcotics.

Investigators said there were multiple marijuana bongs in open sight on a dresser and on wall shelves.

Nicely told police she didn’t know whether there were any other drugs in the house, saying: “He hides stuff everywhere,” the complaint said.

She told police she only smokes marijuana and has a state medical marijuana card, according to the complaint.

An officer told her that even with a card, it still is illegal in Pennsylvania to smoke marijuana in “bud” form, the complaint said.

Police said Nicely gave them permission to search her house, where they found several containers of powdered cocaine. Police also confiscated paraphernalia used to cook powdered cocaine into crack, the complaint said.

There were no children in the house when police were on the scene, but officers wrote in the complaint that Nicely has custody of two young children.

When officers again questioned Nicely about whether she takes any drugs other than marijuana, she admitted that she also uses cocaine, the complaint said.

Police said she told them that a backpack they found next to the front door belonged to Johnston.

Inside were multiple items that could be evidence of drug dealing, including a scale with white powdered residue, four cellphones and bags used to package drugs, the complaint said.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)