Police: Pair faces multiple felonies after stolen gun, drugs found in stolen SUV

Harrison police charged a man and a woman with multiple felonies after they said crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and a stolen handgun were found in their car, which also was reported as stolen.

Brandon Duane Schoff, 37, who told police he is homeless, was charged with two felony counts of receiving stolen property and a count each of felony drug possession, conspiracy and carrying a firearm without a license.

He also faces four misdemeanor counts of drug possession and a count of failing to identify himself to police, according to court records. Schoff’s last known address is in Bethel Park, according to court documents.

He was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail after a judge denied bail at his arraignment. He faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Carolyn Saldari Bengel on Sept. 7, court records show.

Heather Ann Filipiak, 31, of the 1600 block of McCully Road in Castle Shannon faces the same charges with the exception of felony drug possession. She was released from custody on a $2,500 unsecured bond. Her preliminary hearing also is scheduled before Bengel on Sept. 7.

The pair was arrested after a resident along Adams Street called police shortly after 10 p.m. to report that they were suspicious because a black SUV with two people inside had been parked outside the house for nearly three hours, according to a criminal complaint.

An officer who responded to the scene said he spotted a number of hypodermic needles on the center console and floorboards and two people moving around in the back seat, the complaint said.

Police said Filipiak was naked from the waist down. She crawled into the front seat and rolled down the window to speak to the officer, who said her arms were covered with “numerous bruises and scabs caused by IV (intravenous) drug use,” the complaint said.

Schoff and Filipiak are accused of repeatedly giving police false names and dates of birth when they were asked to identify themselves.

Filipiak was taken into custody after an officer asked if she was lying about her name and she give him the correct one, the complaint said.

Police said an arrest warrant had been issued for Filipiak by Mt. Oliver police on drug charges.

Before being handcuffed, police said, Filipiak gave officers a driver’s license that she said was issued to Schoff, who also told police that it belonged to him.

When police searched the vehicle before impounding it, which is the department’s policy, they allegedly found evidence of drug dealing. Among the items police say they found were a digital scale on the driver’s side floorboard with residue, a loaded Colt .357 revolver under the front passenger seat, two crack pipes with suspected cocaine, a bag of suspected pressed fentanyl pills, a bag of suspected crack cocaine and a locked safe in the trunk.

Investigators said the SUV was reported stolen from a home in the 1000 block of Muldowney Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place neighborhood.

During that incident, multiple guns were stolen from the home, including a .357-caliber Colt revolver. The serial number matched the one discovered in the vehicle with Schoff and Filipiak, according to the complaint.

The owner of the stolen vehicle and firearms said the name Schoff gave police was false and identified him as the person involved in the thefts, the complaint said.

After getting a warrant, police said they searched the car again and found loose crack cocaine on the front dashboard, multiple empty stamp bags and bottle caps with suspected heroin residue and fentanyl test strips, the complaint said.

Schoff and Filipiak did not have lawyers listed in court documents.