Jeannette man arrested on drug charges after foot chase in city

A Jeannette man under investigation by police for dealing drugs was arrested Wednesday after a foot chase in the city, according to court papers.

Rashaad Ricardo Shepard, 41, is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bond.

City police and agents from the state Attorney General’s office said they used a confidential informant this week to make a controlled buy from Shepard at his Columbia Court home. Officers were watching Shepard’s home at 5 p.m. Wednesday while a search warrant was being prepared when they saw him get into a pickup truck and travel a couple blocks to a store, according to court papers.

When police converged on the truck, they said Shepard fled on foot, attempting to hide in some brush behind a South Seventh Street home and running onto Bullitt Avenue. Officers used a Taser on the front stoop of his home and took Shepard into custody, according to court papers.

In a wallet he was holding, investigators reported finding the money used during the controlled buy. Officers retraced his route from the store and found 31 stamp bags of suspected heroin and almost 4 grams of crack cocaine, both of which appeared to have been recently dropped on the ground. Police said they seized two scales and plastic bags from his home.

Shepard is charged with several drug offenses, tampering with evidence, fleeing from police and resisting arrest. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A Feb. 4 preliminary hearing is set.

Wednesday’s arrest was Shepard’s second in less than six months. He was jailed in August after Jeannette police said he fired a gun behind his home at another person. Investigators used surveillance video to make the arrest.

After first being denied bond on those charges, he was released from the county jail on Aug. 27 on $25,000 unsecured bond, according to online court records. A preliminary hearing date is set for the same day as the new case.