Community Corner

Police: Rofo Man had Weapons, Drugs, Paraphernalia

A 22-year-old Royersford man faces several charges, including a felony, after a traffic stop in East Pikeland Township.

A Royersford man pulled over for swerving allegedly had a large knife under his seat along with a collection of drug-related items while driving under the influence, according to East Pikeland Police.

Benjamin David Lander, 22, was arraigned Friday in district court, and bail was set at $50,000 unsecured. Lander faces a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver along with misdemeanor charges for driving under the influence, drug-related offenses, a weapons violation and summary traffic violations.

According to the criminal complaint filed in district court, an East Pikeland officer was following a gold Ford Explorer at approximately 1:43 a.m. on Feb. 18 and observed the vehicle drifting back and forth in the roadway in the 500 block of Schuylkill Road. The officer alleges that the SUV crossed the yellow line and the white line several times.

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Officer Thomas Douglas conducted a traffic stop and pulled the vehicle over on Schuylkill Road just west of Pikeland Avenue. The driver was identified as Lander, and Douglas wrote in the criminal complaint that he smelled alcohol on Lander’s breath. Lander initially denied having anything to drink, according to the officer.

“While obtaining his required documents, Lander fumbled with his papers and had the vehicle registration in his hand the entire time that he was looking for it,” Douglas wrote in the affidavit of probable cause.

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Lander was asked to exit the Ford and the officer asked if he had any weapons on him, and Lander allegedly told him he didn’t. After the officer began the pat down, Lander then told Douglas he had brass knuckles, which he handed over, according to the criminal complaint.

According to Douglas, Lander then said he had three beers earlier in the night. When three field sobriety tests were administered, Lander failed, according to the criminal complaint. He was placed under arrest.

“While in the rear of my patrol vehicle, Lander was banging his head on the window, cursing, yelling and kicking the seat,” Douglas wrote.

The officer began to do an inventory search on the vehicle and after noticing a very large machete under the driver’s seat and smelling marijuana, he stopped the search pending a search warrant, according to the affidavit.

After being transported to Phoenixville Hospital, Lander was read the implied consent form and asked multiple times if he’d like to have a chemical test done on his blood, the criminal complaint states.

“Lander refused to provide a sample of his blood,” Douglas wrote.

Three days later, with a signed search warrant, Douglas and another officer began the search of Lander’s vehicle. According to the criminal complaint, police found the following:

  • A large KA-BAR brand knife with a black handle under the driver’s seat
  • $3,155 in cash
  • A black book containing names and amounts, suspected to be a drug sales ledger
  • A black scale with pieces of suspected marijuana on the scale
  • A small jar containing suspected marijuana
  • A clear plastic bag with suspected marijuana inside
  • A red and white smoking bowl containing suspected marijuana
  • Two clear empty sandwich bags smelling of marijuana
  • A clear sandwich bag with tobacco remnants inside

The green leafy substance field-tested positive for the presence of marijuana, according to the affidavit filed in district court. It was sent to a lab for further analysis.

After the search warrant was complete, Lander came by the East Pikeland Police Station to ask about his vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.

“Lander blurted out that [the] marijuana in the car was his, but it was only for personal use,” Douglas wrote. “I stopped him and told him that the issue was now for court and that I didn’t want to hear it.”

At his preliminary arraignment on Friday afternoon before District Judge Theodore Michaels, a preliminary hearing date was set for March 22 in Phoenixville district court.  

Lander also had a formal arraignment set for March 8 in the county Court of Common Pleas regarding a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia charge along with a summary public drunkenness charge and a charge of restrictions on alcoholic beverages. Those charges were filed by Phoenixville Police relating to an incident on Oct. 11. Lander’s attorney waived those charges to county court. 


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