After night incident on Connellsville Street in February
Uniontown man waives multiple charges to court A Uniontown man accused of standing in traffic and grunting at police in the middle of the night while in possession of liquid PCP will have his day in court.
State police Trooper Christopher T. Cole said Leon Russell Thomas, 36, was charged before Magisterial District Judge Michael M. Metros with two counts possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and two other summary charges following the incident.
Thomas waived all charges against him to Fayette County Court during a preliminary hearing held Tuesday before Metros.
According to Cole, the incident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Feb. 22 when officers were driving on Connellsville Street.
Cole said that troopers spotted Thomas walking in the middle of the road and noted that he appeared to be disoriented.
Cole said troopers blocked traffic, got out of their patrol vehicle and tried to talk to Thomas. However, police said Thomas kept grunting and refused to remove his right hand from his waistband.
Cole said officers tried to use a Taser gun to subdue Thomas to no avail and eventually had to physically restrain him.
Cole said officers found a vial of PCP, or “wet” as it is referred to on the street, inside his pants pocket.
Cole said that Thomas was unable to tell police his name and was subsequently taken to Uniontown Hospital, where he was admitted for observation.
According to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), PCP users in the past often snorted the drug in powder form or took PCP tablets, however, officials said that in recent years addicts have tended to prefer dipping marijuana cigarettes in liquid PCP as a means of ingesting the drug.
The drug also is referred to as illy, fry, sherms and amp.
Although liquid PCP often is referred to as embalming fluid, PCP does not share any properties with the liquid used by morticians, according to NDIC officials.