Last person inside site of house fire arrested for drug possession

Last person inside site of house fire arrested for drug possession, counterfeit money

On the same day his apartment was destroyed by fire, a Wilkes-Barre man was arrested for possession of heroin, crack cocaine and $920 in counterfeit cash, police said.

Following the devastating fire at 57-59 S. Fulton St. early Wednesday, authorities had been looking to locate Louis M. Alston. He was the last person known to be home at his side of the double-block, officials and neighbors said.

Wilkes-Barre police encountered Alston, 38, around 8:15 p.m. at 35 N. Welles St. after responding to a report of a wanted person who struck someone with a bottle, police said.

Upon arrival, police saw a man climb over a fence and flee. Police then watched Alston throw money and drugs over a porch railing. He was then detained. Investigators collected the items, which included money, two bags of crack, four bags of heroin and a hypodermic needle. Police searched Alston and found two more bags of crack, five bags of heroin and a hypodermic needle. Police determined the money, which amounted to $920, was counterfeit, police said.

Alston was charged with forgery, possession of crack and heroin, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was jailed in lieu of $20,000 cash bail and also on a warrant for a state parole violation.

Alston listed his address as 57 S. Fulton St., police said. That side of the double-block property was gutted by fire that erupted Wednesday around 4:30 a.m. and was the focus of the daylong fire probe.

At the scene of the fire, Phyllis Davis, 29, said Alston was the father of her children and occasionally lived there. She said she got into a fight with him days before the fire, and left to a friend's house with her children. Neighbors, the landlord and officials said Alston had been home prior to the fire, but could not be located afterward.