Campbell arrests three on charges of drug trafficking, child endangerment

Staff report

CAMPBELL

Police arrested three people Friday night on Gladstone Road on charges of drug trafficking and child endangering.

Police conducted a traffic stop on Gladstone for a Chevrolet with no license plate. As police approached the vehicle, they noticed the front passenger hide an open beer between his legs.

Police had police dogs search the vehicle for any drugs. They found 1.4 grams of marijuana in the male passenger’s pockets, 42.1 grams of marijuana in a child passenger’s “Dora the Explorer” backpack, 26.9 grams of cocaine, multiple open bags, a black scale and $375 cash.

Police arrested George Weidner, 27, of Youngstown; Amanda Pirlozzi, 25, of Youngstown; and Tracy Walton, 20, of East Liverpool; on charges of drug trafficking and child endangerment, as a 4-year-old daughter of Pirlozzi was in the back seat.

Kevin Sferra, a sergeant with the Campbell Police Department, said the reason police suspected this was a drug-trafficking case rather than possession was because of the black scale and multiple unused bags in the vehicle.

“Generally, when we find a bunch of individual open bags, that’s good evidence the drugs are intended for sale,” Sferra said.

Sferra said the police department has seen an increase in drug trafficking in Campbell this year. He said there have been three to four cases this month.

“This comes and goes in spurts,” he said. “A lot of it is people from outside Campbell.”

The child’s grandfather is caring for the girl as her mother, Pirlozzi, was one of the three adults transported to the Mahoning County Jail without bond Friday night.

Sferra said Mahoning County Children Services was contacted, and they will decide whether to release the child back to her mother after court appearances scheduled for today.

Patty Amendolea, community education specialist with Mahoning County Children Services, said the department cannot directly comment on the ongoing case.

Amendolea said in general, it can sometimes take a long time before children are returned to their biological parents.

She said the goal of Children Services is “always reunification of children and their biological parents, only when it’s safe to do so.”