Meadville man arraigned after search brings heavy police presence
Feb. 4—A Meadville man arrested amid the search of a North Main Street building by more than a dozen law enforcement agents Thursday was arraigned Friday on six drug-related charges.
Elroy T. Cummings, 53, of Meadville appeared via videoconference before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino, who ordered Cummings be held at Crawford County jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.
The scene Thursday afternoon at 776 N. Main St. featured a heavy police presence involving several agencies as police blocked off North Main Street between North and Randolph streets around 4:30 p.m. Among the vehicles was an unmarked green armored vehicle that is not part of the Meadville Police Department fleet.
Sgt. Neil Falco, the Meadville Police Department detective who filed the charges against Cummings, said the search warrant executed Thursday was a cooperative effort involving city police, state police and Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General's Drug Task Force. Falco is also a member of the task force.
Officers from the Cambridge Springs Police Department as well as the Cambridge Springs K-9 unit were also observed participating by the Tribune.
In an email, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the search, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.
The building, Cummings told Pendolino during the arraignment, was being used by a relative of Cummings as the location of T & S Surveillance, a shop selling security devices, where Cummings worked part-time selling surveillance equipment and performing cleaning and maintenance duties.
Whether Cummings was also residing in the three-story structure was a point of contention in the hearing. Cummings told Pendolino that he lived in the 700 block of Park Avenue. Falco, however, said police surveillance showed Cummings staying at the North Main Street building that was searched by police. Cummings also told police on Thursday that he lived in the building, according to Falco.
Asked by Pendolino about bail in the case, Falco expressed concern that at the time he was arrested Thursday Cummings was free on bail in a 2022 case involving similar charges.
"My concern is that if he were to get out," Falco said regarding the possibility of bail for the latest charges, "what's to stop him from doing it again?"
Citing what he called the "very serious charges" and the pending case against Cummings, Pendolino said, "I'm going to be setting a higher bail on this."
Cummings faces two felony charges of possession with intent to deliver, one involving fentanyl and one involving cocaine, according to the criminal complaint filed by police in the case. He also faces two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one misdemeanor count of possession of a small amount of marijuana.
A preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for Feb. 17 before Pendolino.
Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.
