Police allege that a Lancaster woman reached for a pistol during a search that began with a tip of a suspicious vehicle parked in a Hanover neighborhood’s no-parking zone.
According to criminal documents, the woman was also charged with possession of prohibited narcotics, as was the Lancaster man operating the vehicle.
Qianna Myers-Gray, 24, of Lancaster City, was charged with felony counts of prohibited firearm possession and firearms not to be carried without a license, as well as a misdemeanour count of controlled substance possession and a summary offence of alcoholic beverage restrictions, according to court records filed on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Rayshawn Dorsey, 24, of Ephrata, was charged with misdemeanour tampering with physical evidence and possession of a controlled substance, as well as summary offences for driving on a suspended licence and alcoholic beverage restrictions, according to documents filed on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Dorsey was able to post $10,000 money through a bondsman following the pair’s arraignment on Wednesday morning, while Myers-Gray was unable to post $100,000 in cash bail, according to court records.
According to Hanover police affidavits of probable cause filed against Dorsey and Myers-Gray, officers were dispatched to the 400 block of Grant Drive in northern Hanover at 10:36 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, for a report of a suspicious car in a no-parking zone.
Officers discovered the vehicle, a black Hyundai Elantra, still parked in the no-parking zone near George Street and occupied by three people, according to the records.
While the officer attempted to shine a torch into the vehicle to see the occupants, police allege that Dorsey tried to hide a ball of ‘leafy green stuff’ in the centre console, according to the documents. Dorsey was subsequently brought into custody, according to the complaint.
The officer then turned his attention to Myers-Gray, the front seat passenger who they claim gave authorisation to search the vehicle she owned.
According to the criminal documents, during a search that Myers-Gray consented to, she became “visibly nervous” while officers searched her pockets.
According to the affidavit, as authorities pulled up the front of Myers-Gray’s jumper, a loaded pink 9mm SCCY handgun was discovered in her waistband.
“At the same time, the defendant reached for the weapon,” the officer claimed in the affidavit, prompting the officer to take Myers-Gray to the ground, control her arms, and handcuff her.
According to the documents, authorities discovered the handgun as well as a bag of a white powdery substance in Myers-Gray’s pockets that they believe was crack cocaine. A second bag weighing several grammes was allegedly discovered on the vehicle’s floor, according to the criminal paperwork.
According to the affidavit, Myers-Gray, who had previously been convicted of felony offences, was not authorised to possess a firearm and did not have a concealed carry permit.
The charging documents state that two open coffee cups discovered in the car’s centre console contained beer.
Dorsey informed officers that he was driving Myers-Gray’s vehicle from Lancaster to Hanover because she had a suspended driving licence, according to the affidavit, despite the fact that Dorsey also had a suspended driving licence.
Dorsey and Myers-Gray both have preliminary hearings scheduled for June 5, 2025, according to records.
