Charges held for court in Uniontown drug case
All charges were held for court Tuesday against a Uniontown man charged with possession with intent to deliver drugs. Michael Raven Hickenbottom, 34, of 64 Lenox St. was charged in February 2006 with felony counts of drug possession and possession with intent to deliver drugs after Fayette County parole officers searched him as he exited a Uniontown convenience store.
Hickenbottom gained attention across the region after he filed a lawsuit following the accidental fatal shooting of his 12-year-old son, Michael Ellerbe, in Uniontown in 2002.
During a preliminary hearing held Tuesday before Senior Magisterial District Judge Robert Breakiron, arresting officers testified they uncovered drugs specifically packaged for resale at Hickenbottom’s home.
Parole officer James Williams testified that he saw Hickenbottom enter the parking lot of the A-Plus Sunoco on Connellsville Street, and that he and parole officer John Warman decided to conduct a spot search of Hickenbottom, He testified that a spot search was permitted under conditions as part of Hickenbottom’s pre-trial supervision in an unrelated drug case.
Williams testified that during the search he discovered a small amount of suspected marijuana in Hickenbottom’s inside jacket pocket as well as a roll of cash totaling $628 in his wallet.
The agents took Hickenbottom into custody at the store and called for Uniontown police to assist them in searching Hickenbottom’s home for drugs, Williams testified.
Assisted by Uniontown Sgt. Jonathan Grabiak, Lt. Michael Metros and Detective Donald M. Gmitter, Williams testified he and Warman entered Hickenbottom’s home, where Hickenbottom willingly walked over to a couch and lifted the cushions revealing a cache of drugs that included eight small packages of suspected marijuana and a large plastic bag filled with suspected marijuana.
Upstairs, Wiilliams told Fayette County Assistant District Attorney Peter U. Hook that officers uncovered another plastic bag of suspected marijuana in Hickenbottom’s dresser, as well as $700 cash and another plastic bag of suspected marijuana underneath a pillow on Hickenbottom’s bed.
Uniontown police Officer Michael C. Garrow Sr., who filed the charges against Hickenbottom, testified that he searched Hickenbottom’s car with the assistance of police dog Sheiko, who discovered a small amount of marijuana under the rear seat of the Buick sedan.
Garrow, who has trained drug-sniffing dogs for 34 years, testified that the drugs field-tested positive for marijuana and noted that all the packaging used to store the drugs was consistent with illegal drug activity.
Public defender Jeremy J. Davis argued that the absence of scales or packaging material at Hickenbottom’s home should rule out the charge of possession with intent to deliver, but Breakiron held all charges to Fayette County Court.