Updated 3:07 p.m. March 4.
A woman who was found unconscious in a car died and two people were arrested on drug charges after a traffic stop Friday in Centre County.
State police at Rockview found the 57-year-old woman lying in the back seat after pulling the car over just before 6 p.m. near mile 166 on Interstate 80 westbound in Marion Township, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Troopers performed CPR for about 10 to 15 minutes and administered Narcan to no effect before emergency medical services arrived and continued resuscitation efforts.
EMS were able to restore the woman’s pulse and she was taken to a hospital, where she later died, state police wrote in a public information report on Monday.
The driver of the SUV, 64-year-old Edward E. Stewart, of Woodland, and passenger 35-year-old Cameo E. Evans, of Clearfield, are accused of transporting methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Troopers pulled over the SUV for following another vehicle too closely, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Evans, the front seat passenger, was found to have outstanding warrants in Clearfield County, a trooper wrote.
When a trooper approached the vehicle, Stewart informed him that the other woman was also asleep in the backseat.
Stewart and Evans gave conflicting accounts of where they had been traveling, and denied a request to search the vehicle, according to the affidavit. The trooper then opened the back door of the vehicle to ask the other woman to exit, and saw she was lying awkwardly with a coat covering her.
After performing CPR and while EMS tended to the woman, a trooper observed a glass smoking device and a bag of suspected fentanyl in the Mercedes, according to the affidavit
The SUV was towed to the Rockview barracks, where drug-detecting dogs indicated the odor of a controlled substance, and a district judge issued a search warrant for the vehicle, a trooper wrote.
Troopers found in the trunk a bag with three wrapped packages of methamphetamine totaling three pounds, according to the affidavit. They also allegedly found on the back seat 14 stamp bags containing fentanyl and a glass pipe.
Evans admitted to possessing the bags of fentanyl, according to the affidavit, but neither she nor Stewart claimed ownership of the methamphetamine. Both said they do not use meth, did not know anything about the packages and had never seen the other woman use meth or fentanyl.
Stewart and Evans are each charged with felony counts of possession with intent to deliver and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
The investigation is ongoing.
Stewart and Evans were arraigned on Saturday by District Judge Allen Sinclair. Stewart was denied bail and Evans’ bail was set at $100,000. Both are confined at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for March 12.
