COURTHOUSE >> An Upper Merion man is on his way to state prison after police found him possessing drugs and driving under the influence of alcohol during an attempted traffic stop.
Warren Winthrope Jordan III, 24, of the 200 block of Leonard Drive, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 2 ½ to seven years in state prison on charges of possession with intent to deliver oxycodone, possession of marijuana and oxycodone, possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI in connection with an August 2015 incident in Norristown. The sentence was imposed by Judge Gail A. Weilheimer.
The judge recommended that Jordan be incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Chester in Delaware County, which offers inmates drug and alcohol counseling programs.
Jordan was convicted of the charges by a jury at a trial last year.
An investigation began about 1:19 a.m. Aug. 17, 2015, when Norristown police observed a Chevrolet Impala traveling east on West Marshall Street at a high rate of speed and neglecting to stop at a red traffic signal at Astor Street, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
When police attempted to conduct a traffic stop Jordan jumped out of the driver’s seat of the vehicle while it was still moving and fled on foot, according to the criminal complaint. An unidentified female passenger also exited the vehicle, which subsequently crashed into a parked car on Astor Street, police said.
As Jordan fled on foot, police noticed he had a dark-colored bag in his hand. Jordan subsequently was apprehended by officers when he ran toward a deck on the side of a home in the 400 block of West Airy Street, according to court documents.
“Jordan had bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol coming from his person,” Norristown Police Officer Kevin Hagan alleged in the criminal complaint. “Jordan uttered that he ran because he was drunk.”
When police investigated the path that Jordan took while he was fleeing, they found a black sports bag in the grass and weeds under the deck of a home on West Airy Street, court documents indicate.
The sports bag contained three clear, knotted sandwich-type bags containing marijuana as well as a digital scale with marijuana residue on it, according to the criminal complaint. Police also found a clear, knotted bag containing 36 oxycodone pills in the sports bag, court papers alleged.
When police searched the Chevrolet Impala that Jordan had abandoned earlier, they noticed a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle.
“In addition, scattered throughout the driver side floor were very small pieces of a green botanical substance believed to be marijuana,” Hagan alleged, adding police also found an open bottle of peach flavored vodka inside the vehicle.
At the time of his arrest Jordan refused a blood test to determine his blood-alcohol content, according to the arrest affidavit.
