10 July 2023- A traffic stop in Franklin County lands two Morgantown, WV residents in jail after police allegedly find them trying to destroy evidence and hide multiple drugs during a stop. Jeremy Scott Lipscomb and Sarah Rose Degroot are both charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor tampering with evidence, and misdemeanor marijuana possession. Lipscomb is also charged with two traffic violations, while Degroot is charged with misdemeanor reckless endangerment. Both Lipscomb and Degroot are behind bars on $50,000 bail.
Around 7:15pm on July 8th, Pennsylvania State Police Troopers were on regular patrol on I-81NB when they allegedly spotted a car driving too close to another car. A traffic stop was conducted and the driver was found to be Jeremy Lipscomb, with the passenger as Sarah Degroot. When talking to the officers, Lipscomb’s hands were allegedly shaking even though he was told it was just going to be a warning from the Troopers. When asked about anything illegal in the car, however, Lipscomb allegedly told officers that there were needles in the car because he used to use drugs.
The passenger, Degroot, was questioned next as she was allegedly cleaning up what seemed to be a mess that had just happened in the car. Degroot told police the itinerary and subsequently gave Troopers consent to search the vehicle for drugs. During a search of the car, police allegedly found six tin foil wrappers with suspected heroin, a glass pipe with suspected crack cocaine inside of a McDonald’s cup, an orange pipe in the truck, a small bag of marijuana, a small bag of crack inside of a McDonald’s bag, a vile of a white powdery substance, a plastic bag with another unknown substance, four red plastic bags in the truck, and a black scale on the floor of the car.
Police talked to Lipscomb following the arrest, where he allegedly said that they had attempted to destroy evidence of the crack pipe by dumping it in the McDonald’s drink. Both were arrested without incident.
Lipscomb was found to have a tin foil wrapper with suspected heroin and a pipe with suspected crack cocaine residue on it on his person. Degroot was allegedly found to have a clear plastic bag inside her pants with suspected heroin inside of it.
After arrival at PSP-Chambersburg, it was allegedly found that Degroot had ANOTHER bag of methamphetamine in her possession that she dumped across the backseat of the patrol car during the ride. The contents of the bag were spilled all over the backseat and subsequently tested positive for meth. Police also noted that the A/C was on high during transport, meaning the vehicle had significant airflow during transport. That baggie’s destruction resulted in the reckless endangerment charges for Degroot. The Trooper was treated as he was possibly exposed to the methamphetamine.
Sarah Degroot and Jeremy Lipscomb are both behind bars on $50,000 bail. Their preliminary hearings are set for July 18th.
Sources: Docket Number: MJ-39305-CR-0000126-2023, Docket Number: MJ-39305-CR-0000127-2023, Incident Number: PA 2023-908429
