An Emmaus man faces criminal charges following an incident in Tamaqua on Dec. 23.

Patrolman Matthew Houser was on patrol at 8:58 p.m. in the area of Mountain Avenue when he noticed a man sitting inside a blue Subaru parked in the roadway. As the officer approached he saw the man, identified as Brian E. Hamill, 25, drinking from a can of beer.Houser went to speak to the driver and saw a wax paper package on the front passenger seat. Hamill tried to hide the package after he was asked for his license and registration. Hamill was then asked to leave the car and consented to a search. He told the officer he was a drug user and possibly had a needle in his pocket.A search found four hypodermic needles, 10 empty wax paper packages, two wax paper packages containing powdery substances, a marijuana smoking pipe, and six empty beer cans.Charges are pending the results of lab tests on the wax paper packages.