Published: July 10, 2009 12:12 am      

Taxi on turnpike attracts troopers, yields surprise

NEW BALTIMORE — When state police stopped a New York City taxi for a traffic violation on the turnpike late Wednesday, they found the driver was carrying more than the usual fare.

The cab driven by Sheldon Kirk Styles, 35, of New York, was carrying one passenger, 50 pounds of marijuana, 21 pills and more than $5,000 cash, troopers said.

“It’s strange to see a cab on the turnpike,” said Sgt. Anthony DeLuca, who made the arrests.

“When it’s registered out of New York, it’s not your normal ...”

Authorities determined that Styles and passenger Vernon Spencer, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., were illegal aliens, he said.

DeLuca said he stopped the cab because it had no brake lights and a burned-out light on the license plate.

The stop was made at milepost 123 in the westbound lane in Allegheny Township.

When the driver refused to allow the vehicle to be searched, Trooper Westley Berkebile and a police dog were called in.

Bosko, a drug-sniffing German

shepherd, indicated a suspicious scent in the trunk.

Troopers obtained a search warrant and seized the drugs and money.

The pot had a street value of about $50,000, and the pills are believed to be a prescription antibiotic, DeLuca said.

Styles said he was headed to Pittsburgh, and authorities found a GPS device he was using for directions, DeLuca said.

Styles and Spencer were arraigned on drug charges by District Judge Arthur Cook of Somerset, the on-call magistrate.

They were sent to the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bond each.

Both are being held on federal detainers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Pittsburgh for being in the United States illegally.