Tamaqua police responded to a call about a suspicious man in the vicinity of the 400 block of East Elm Street on Oct. 22 and found a blue Jeep parked, with the engine running. There was a man, later identified as Shane Schiano, 38, of Summit Hill, in the driver’s seat.

Schiano told an officer he was waiting for a female friend he had dropped off. He initially refused to name his friend and insisted he didn’t know which house she entered.

The officer saw a large knife wedged in the center console and suspected Schiano was high due to his constricted pupils and confusing answers to simple questions. A pat down search found a silver knife with a razor blade in one of the suspect’s pockets. A plastic container with a straw, commonly used for methamphetamine, was found in plain sight on the passenger side floor.

With the driver’s consent the officer searched the vehicle more thoroughly and found three additional large knives.

Schiano was taken to St. Luke’s Miners Campus in Coaldale for blood tests.

Charges are pending the return of those tests and include driving under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.