Sheriff's deputies: Fugitive found hiding in Hempfield hotel room

Three people are facing drug and conspiracy charges after authorities said they found a fugitive hiding in a Hempfield hotel room last week.

Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies were searching for Kelly W. Preacher Jr., 29, of Derry Township, on Jan. 31 when they were led to the hotel room and reported finding heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, according to court papers.

Two others were arrested — Charles A. Kutzer, 41, of Derry Township, and Kara E. Selm, 34, of Latrobe.

Hotel staff members identified Preacher as one of three people staying in a room that was booked under Kutzer’s name. While deputies were in the lobby, Kutzer walked by “and looked at us as if he was alarmed,” according to court papers.

When the room was searched, investigators said they found Preacher and Selm standing behind the shower curtain fully clothed. In the room was several hundred stamp bags of heroin, along with the other drugs and paraphernalia.

Recordings of phone calls and video chats between the group and a female inmate at the Westmoreland County Prison the night before the arrests showed the trio in the same hotel room where they were taken into custody, according to court papers.

Kutzer was arraigned Friday and jailed on $100,000 bail. He has a preliminary hearing set for Friday. Preacher and Selm were arraigned Monday and were being held on $50,000 bail each. Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for Feb. 17. None had attorneys listed in online court records.

Preacher faces a separate flight to avoid apprehension charge. Deputies said he planned to surrender to them at district court in Derry Township on Jan. 27 on an unrelated hindering apprehension charge but failed to show, according to court papers.