Driver arrested for meth was told to “get everything out that’s not supposed to be in there,” via text after wreck

A truck driver was arrested over the weekend after officers found four bags of suspected methamphetamine in his truck following a wreck. 

The accident happened in Lycoming Township, Pennsylvania at the bottom of the Route 973 West off-ramp of Route 15 South on the morning of August 19th. 

According to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, a tractor trailer was driving south on Route 15 at a high rate of speed when it veered to the right and went down the off ramp before hitting two signs and overturning. 44-year-old truck driver Deangelo Colen then flagged down a passerby who called 911 and lent Colen their phone. Colen then used the cellphone to send a photo of himself with a laceration on his head, and one of the overturned truck to an unknown person. The person replied with a message stating “what the (expletive) man. Get everything out that’s not supposed to be in there.”

When officers arrived, Colen told police he believed his tractor trailer had “lost its brakes” on the off ramp, causing it to overturn onto its right side. An officer then climbed into the truck cab to look for insurance and registration information and discovered a plastic bag containing a “hard, white crystal substance” in the center console. Officers then obtained a search warrant for the entire truck. 

Four bags of suspected methamphetamine were found inside of the truck during the search, along with drug paraphernalia. The truck registration was also found to have expired in April. 

Colen has since been arraigned on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and three summary violations, including accidents involving overturned vehicles and driving at an unsafe speed. He was sent to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.