Two people arrested on felony drug charges in Wickliffe

Two separate incidents in Wickliffe led to two felony drug arrests on Tuesday and Wednesday.

At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, Lake County Narcotics Agency agents and Wickliffe Police Department detectives witnessed 23-year-old Chaz Stephens allegedly selling drugs. Police then initiated a traffic stop on Bishop Road north of the Interstate 90 entrance ramp, according to the Wickliffe Police Facebook page.

Police seized several grams of heroin, a cell phone, a digital scale and about $1,000 in cash, police said.

Stephens was arraigned Wednesday in Willoughby Municipal Court and charged with heroin trafficking, a fourth-degree felony. Judge Harry Field set bond at $50,000 cash or surety. A preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 15, according to court records.

Stephens, of 265 E. 216th St. in Euclid, also wanted by Cleveland police on an aggravated burglary charge, police said.

A little more than eight hours later, Wickliffe police responded at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday to a disturbance at a Euclid Avenue motel. When officers arrived, they found a group of people leaving the motel and one female in a room, said Wickliffe Police Detective Lt. Pat Hengst.

One of the men leaving the motel, identified as 35-year-old Eastlake resident Benjamin Christman, was allegedly in possession of a small amount of crack and a crack pipe, Hengst said.

Christman, of 1005 Woodstock Road, was arrested and charged with fifth-degree felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Judge Harry Field set bond at 10 percent of $5,000. A preliminary hearing has been set for Aug. 15, according to court records.