Tarentum police say woman admitted to dealing drugs after heroin found in car following crash

Tarentum police say a woman admitted to being a drug dealer when heroin was found in her vehicle after crashing into a guardrail.

Danielle Ann Taylor, 47, of the 800 block of Third Avenue in Brackenridge, was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver along with four counts of drug possession and traffic violations that include DUI and driving with a suspended license.

Taylor is being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of a $20,000 cash bond. A preliminary hearing on the charges that was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon before District Judge Carolyn Bengel was continued until Aug. 24, according to court records.

An officer on patrol shortly before 7 p.m. July 13 along First Avenue near Ross Street wrote in the criminal complaint charging Taylor that she hit the guardrail after failing to negotiate a bend and was pulled over near the marina in Tarentum.

The officer said he recognized Taylor and was aware she did not have a valid driver’s license.

When questioned about whether she had been using alcohol or drugs, Taylor, who showed signs of being impaired, told police she drank 1½ beers about eight hours earlier, the complaint said.

She told the officer that she does not use drugs because she is on the prescription medication Suboxone, which is used to treat opioid addiction, according to the complaint.

Taylor was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI after police conducted a series of field sobriety checks, police said.

After getting permission to search the vehicle, police found 58 stamp bags of heroin, the complaint said.

Police also found a prescription bottle written for someone else containing the medication buprenorphine hydrochloride, which is used to treat opioid dependence and moderate to severe pain.

Buprenorphine hydrochloride tablets also were found in a second bottle that contained Taylor’s prescription for Suboxone, the complaint said.

When the officer asked Taylor when she last used heroin, Taylor said, “I sell it. I don’t use it,” according to the complaint.

Taylor was taken to the Eureka EMS station, where a female EMT searched her and found a crack pipe in her bra, police said.