A routine traffic stop last week resulted in the arrest of two men on drugs and weapons charges and the seizure of large amounts of marijuana, cash and guns.
Arrested were Centreville's Jason A. Whittington, 26, of 14518 Golden Oak Road in The Meadows community and Jedidiah Michael Cummings of 8879 Teakwood Court in Manassas.
And after obtaining search warrants for three locations, Fairfax County police confiscated cocaine, ecstasy pills, some 10 pounds of marijuana, 14 guns and more than $10,000 in cash, as well as brass knuckles and body armor.
The weapons included an SKS assault rifle, a MAC-11 machine gun with a silencer, an AR-15 assault rifle, four handguns, various shotguns and rifles, plus ammunition — 30 round magazines.
Last Tuesday, June 6, around 1:30 p.m., police Pfc. K.D. Kiernan stopped a vehicle at Route 28 and Willard Road in Chantilly because it had tinted windows, which are illegal. She then observed what she believed was marijuana residue and had a police K-9 unit perform a check on the vehicle's exterior.
The dog indicated that there were drugs in the car and, according to an undercover detective in the police department's Narcotics Section, "Suspected marijuana residue was located inside a Cingular Motorola cell phone box with $8,716 [in cash]. The residue was field-tested and yielded a positive reaction for marijuana."
Whittington and Cummings were arrested after the vehicle search, and the detective presented details of the case against them in a June 6 affidavit for a warrant to seek further evidence in Whittington's home. He wrote that a search incident to the Centreville man's arrest yielded a hotel-room, access-key card found among his belongings.
DURING THE traffic stop, Kiernan spoke with the driver of the vehicle who told her that she'd picked up the two men at the Extended Stay Deluxe Hotel, 4506 Brookfield Corporate Drive, in Chantilly. Then, wrote the detective, "A search warrant was executed [there] and large amounts of money, several firearms and large quantities of marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine were seized, along with records and documents linking Whittington to the room."
Also involved in this case was Agent V. Sterling of the Virginia State Police. And, in a June 5 affidavit for a warrant to search Whittington's room at the hotel, the detective wrote that, after being read his Miranda rights, Cummings reportedly told Sterling that he and Whittington had spent the night of June 4 there. And hotel records revealed Whittington had rented the room from June 2-8.
The detective also wrote that Sterling obtained further information about Whittington from someone who knows him. According to the detective, on June 2, this person saw Whittington remove a large, blue, storage tub from his home and bring it to the hotel.
"That storage tub was located inside the hotel room with large quantities of marijuana and guns inside," he wrote. He also noted that, in his experience, "people who distribute marijuana utilize hotel rooms to evade detection from law enforcement."
In addition, the detective stated that a check of the Virginia Criminal Information Network revealed that Whittington was previously convicted of felony distribution of marijuana in Prince William County.
Among items seized June 5 from the hotel room were: A gym bag full of marijuana, pills and marijuana from the blue bin in the closet, cash from the nightstand, scales, a knife with marijuana residue, five weapons — guns and rifles, both loaded and unloaded, a magazine and boxes of ammunition, a cell phone and police body armor.
At Whittington's townhouse, the detective hoped to find records and documents of narcotics customers and a source of supply, drugs and drug paraphernalia and financial records of monetary amounts paid and owed for the drugs.
IN THE RIGHT, front bedroom, police seized a shotgun from under the bed, brass knuckles and records and documents. Marijuana was found in a kitchen cabinet and under the couch and in the closet of a rear bedroom. Also confiscated from that bedroom were packaging material, cash and a pistol magazine. Pills were seized from a bathroom medicine cabinet.
Police also executed a search warrant at United Stor-All, 10043 Iron Gate Way in Manassas. They charged both Whittington and Cummings with possession of marijuana, possession of more than five pounds of marijuana and possessing a weapon while in possession of controlled substances.
Whittington was also charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and Cummings with possession with intent to distribute narcotics. Both were held without bond at the Adult Detention Center. Whittington has a July 19 court date, and Cummings, Aug. 9.