WCDO Radio News

The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division attempted to make a traffic stop Friday on a Toyota operated by 50 year old John Tipler of Afton. Tipler failed to comply with the traffic stop, a passenger, 27 year old Brandon Birch of Harpursville jumped out of the vehicle. Birch was taken into custody, a lock box Birch possessed was located in the snow and contained heroin. State Police located Tipler, he was turned over to the Sheriff’s Office for processing, Tipler was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, Aggravated Unlicensed Operation, Failure to Comply, and various other Violations. Birch was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, & Tampering with Physical Evidence. Tipler and Birch were arraigned in the Town of Afton Court and remanded to the Chenango County Correctional Facility on $25,000 cash bail. The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are expected.

An Afton man was found with 221 bags of heroin after a recent traffic stop in Sanitaria Springs. 49-year-old John Tipler was seen by police driving on I 88 and then pulled over. Investigators received information that Tipler would be transporting narcotics, which were found in his vehicle and found to be packaged for sale. The Broome County Sheriff’s Office detectives along with a highway patrol unit conducted the arrest. Tipler was charged with a felony count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, arraigned in Fenton Town Court and sent to the Broome County jail without bail.