Crime & Safety
Man Had Psychedelic Mushrooms, Fake Name, Police Say
Melvin Pettaway, 43, of Easton, faces charges from April drug arrest.
An Easton man is accused of having two bags of psychedelic mushrooms in a Lower Nazareth Township motel room in April.
The suspect, Melvin Lee Pettaway, 43, also is accused of giving police a false identity during the incident on April 12, a Friday, around 7:30pm. He was arraigned Thursday by District Judge John Capobianco of Nazareth on charges of possession of a controlled substance and false identification to law enforcement.
After police found two bags of psilocybin mushrooms inside Pettaway’s room at the Hampton Inn on Route 248, he told them his name was Kyle Thomas, court records say.
Pettaway’s file does not contain an affidavit of probable cause, which provides details of the arrest and evidence. Court records list Pettaway as living at the Hotel Lafayette on Fourth Street, but also give an address in Phillipsburg.
Pettaway was committed to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $1,500 bail.
