Pittsburgh Power player charged with drugs in Aliquippa
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Pittsburgh Power cornerback and former University of Pittsburgh football player Bernard Josh Lay Jr. has been charged with drug offenses in Aliquippa.
Mr. Lay, 28, of Aliquippa, was a passenger in a car pulled over March 21 for a traffic violation.
Officers smelled raw marijuana and impounded the car after the driver, Antoine Cummings, 27, of Aliquippa, refused consent for police to search the vehicle, Aliquippa police Sgt. Rob Sealock said.
As the officers were in the midst of the traffic stop, shots were fired from nearby and the police had to take cover, the sergeant said this morning.
An affidavit supporting Mr. Lay's arrest said firing shots is known to be "a tactic for getting officers off of a vehicle that is stopped for trafficking narcotics."
Police found 24 individually wrapped baggies of suspected marijuana and seven large bags of suspected marijuana buds in the car, along with a scale and two cell phones, Sgt. Sealock said.
Charges were filed Wednesday with District Judge James F. DiBenedetto against Mr. Lay, Mr. Cummings and another passenger, Anthony D. Adamson, 21, of Petersburg, Va.
None of the men was in custody as of this morning.
Mr. Lay was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2006 and spent time with the St. Louis Rams in 2007-08. He played for the Canadian Football League before moving to the United Football League. From there he went to the Pittsburgh Power, an Arena Football League franchise co-owned by former Steelers receiver Lynn Swann.
Mr. Lay could not be reached for comment this morning.
Michael Gorham, chief operations officer for the Pittsburgh Power, said the team had been unaware of the drug charges.
"I will definitely look into it," he said this morning.
First Published April 7, 2011 10:09 am
