Monroeville woman faces gun, drug, DUI charges after traffic stop in Upper Burrell

A Monroeville woman was accused of drug possession, carrying a gun without a permit and driving while intoxicated following a traffic stop by Upper Burrell police.

Taylor Stringer, 22, of Garden City Drive is charged with illegal possession of a firearm and four counts of drug possession, all felonies. She also was charged with driving under the influence and careless driving in connection with the Dec. 23 traffic stop along Greensburg Road.

She faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yacopec on Feb. 8.

An officer pulled over Stringer’s Jeep just after midnight because she was driving 38 mph in a posted 55 mph zone and nearly hit the guardrail twice as the vehicle veered out of its lane, according to the criminal complaint filed on the incident.

In addition to smelling a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, the officer said Stringer’s eyes were bloodshot and she had difficulty responding when he asked for her driver documents.

When questioned about the odor, Stringer told the officer that she had smoked marijuana earlier in the day and that she had a medical marijuana card, the complaint said.

Police said she did not have a medical marijuana card with her and they cannot determine who receives the cards from the state.

Stringer failed all three parts of the field-sobriety test and was placed under arrest for suspicion of DUI, the complaint said.

Police said she refused to have blood drawn by medical staff at Allegheny Valley Hospital to determine if she had drugs and alcohol in her system.

The DUI charge is Stringer’s third in the past year, court records show. Stringer faces a preliminary hearing on Feb. 2 for a charge of driving under the influence filed by Forest Hills police on May 26. She also faces a preliminary hearing on Jan. 26 for a driving under the influence charge filed on Oct. 23 by state police.

The drug charges were filed in the Dec. 23 incident after the passenger in the Jeep showed an officer a red plastic cup in the vehicle’s console with a partially smoked marijuana blunt inside, according to the complaint.

A warrant was obtained after Stringer refused to let police search the vehicle, which was impounded, police said.

While searching the Jeep, police found the cup with the blunt inside along with two tablets of prescription drugs, used to treat anxiety, in Stringer’s wallet, the complaint said.

A purse on the floor of the backseat had 46 grams of marijuana along with a prescription bottle with another person’s name on the label, according to the complaint.

The bottle contained an unknown liquid and was marked Trazadone, an antidepressant and sedative, police said.

Officers said they obtained a second search warrant after a handgun was spotted partially hidden under the passenger seat, the complaint said.

A 9mm semiautomatic handgun with one round of ammo loaded in the chamber was confiscated during the second search, according to the complaint.