Pot 'sticking out of' pants pocket leads to felony drug arrest at New Kensington hotel

New Kensington police arrested a man on felony drug charges after staff at a local motel reported that he refused to leave and was following a woman around the parking lot.

When officers arrived at the Quality Inn off Tarentum Bridge Road about 6:45 a.m. Jan. 1, they found Melvin Ray Saunders asleep in the lobby. They charged him with drug possession after he was searched, according to a criminal complaint.

Saunders, 55, faces two felony counts of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver along with five related drug charges and counts of defiant trespass and public drunkenness.

He listed his residence as the Renewal Inc. treatment center on the Boulevard of Allies in Pittsburgh. Court records show he previously lived in Wilkinsburg.

Police wrote in the criminal complaint that officers saw marijuana “sticking out of his right pants pocket” when they arrived and that he smelled of alcohol.

After rousing Saunders from sleep, police searched him before being taken into custody, the complaint said.

Police said they found loose marijuana in his pockets, a rolled joint and five baggies totaling just under 3 ounces. Investigators also confiscated 43 packets of suspected heroin/fentanyl, 1.5 grams of powdered cocaine and a rolled-up $20 bill with cocaine residue inside.

He was being detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $10,000 cash bond, according to court records.

Saunders was ordered to stand trial on the charges during a Jan. 12 preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. Formal arraignment is scheduled for March 15 before Judge Scott O. Mears.

According to the court docket, Saunders also is awaiting trial in Allegheny County on two felony drug charges filed Sept. 11, 2020, by Pittsburgh police.

He also was convicted of felony drug charges in 2001 and 2008, court records show.