State police say Tarentum woman turned over more than an ounce of crack cocaine during traffic stop

A Tarentum woman faces drug charges after a state trooper said she had more than an ounce of crack cocaine in her pocket during a traffic stop.

Brittney Teyonia Ellibe, 31, of the 200 block of Allegheny Street was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver along with possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia and five traffic violations.

A trooper wrote in Ellibe’s arrest papers that he was patrolling May 6 along Route 28 in South Buffalo , near Exit 18, when he saw a Lincoln traveling northbound. The car was registered to a Pittsburgh man with an arrest warrant issued out of Ohio for driving with a suspended license, according to a criminal complaint.

The trooper noted he could not see the driver, so the arrest warrant wasn’t sufficient cause to stop the vehicle.

The car was pulled over after exiting the highway onto southbound Freeport Road and getting into the turning lane for a park-and-ride lot.

Ellibe was stopped after she continued traveling south in a lane marked “left lane must turn left,” the complaint said.

The trooper became suspicious after Ellibe told him she was pregnant and driving her brother’s car to Kittanning to meet up with a friend who would assist her at the hospital during labor.

Ellibe told the trooper that she was “just following her GPS” after he informed her that the most direct route to Kittanning would have been to remain on the highway.

Police said Ellibe also was unable to provide a last name for her friend whom she had known for three years.

The trooper said Ellibe agreed to let him search the vehicle, where he found a small blue bag on the driver’s seat.

She told him it contained “a little something” she was going to use and identified the substance as heroin. She told police that she chews it and that she only used it one time before.

The trooper said the substance was the same texture and color as crack cocaine.

When the officer asked if she had any other drugs in her possession, Ellibe handed over a bag from her front pocket with 33 grams of crack cocaine. There are 28 grams in an ounce.

Ellibe was charged with possession of drugs with the intent to deliver because the amount “is much more than a casual user possesses,” the trooper wrote, adding she showed no signs of being impaired by drugs or alcohol when she was stopped.

The trooper also noted he was not aware of any previous instances in which users chew crack cocaine.

Ellibe, who was charged by summons, faces a preliminary hearing on the charges before District Judge J. Gary DeComo on July 5, according to court records.