Wanted man rammed Hamilton Police car during drugs bust; gun also seized

The police in Hamilton say they seized a loaded gun following the drugs-related arrests of two people, including a young man who “intentionally reversed” a car into a police vehicle in a failed fleeing attempt.

Hamilton Police (HPS) say that around 4 p.m. on Dec. 23, officers responded to an address on Meritage Ln. to arrest a man wanted on an outstanding warrant. The officers observed the male in question, who was seated in the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle parked in the driveway of the residence. An woman was seated in the front passenger seat.

The individual of interest ignored a request from the police to get of the car. Instead, he backed the car into an HPS cruiser.

“When police requested the male to exit the car, he intentionally reversed his vehicle into a police cruiser in an attempt to flee,” HPS stated. “Unable to escape, officers seized the opportunity to safely remove the male from the driver’s seat and arrest him.”

The accused was on a release from the courts for previous drug trafficking charges. The conditions of his surety included being forbidden to possess any weapons, firearms, or ammunition, occupy the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle, or possess any non-prescribed drugs, HPS added.

The ensuing investigation resulted in the recovery of a loaded firearm and ammuniation. That led to police arresting both the 21-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman.

“During the investigation police located a loaded, semi-automatic pistol and ammunition in the vehicle,” the police stated. ” As a result, both the male and female occupants were arrested and charged with possession of the firearm.”

Police seized the following items:

• One prohibited pistol magazine with a 27-round capacity.
• Numerous rounds of 9mm ammunition.
• Fentanyl powder in separate packaging weighing a total of 40 grams.
• One bag of powdered cocaine weighing approximately 75 grams.
• A digital scale
• A large quantity of cash

Lizaine Darious Teton Welsh, age 21, of Hamilton, and Courtney Smith, 20, of Hamilton, are jointly charged with nine criminal counts:

• Possession of a prohibited firearm
• Knowledge of unauthorized firearm in a vehicle
• Knowledge of unauthorized possession of a firearm
• Careless use, storage or transport of a Firearm (two counts)
• possession of a prohibited device
• Possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking (two counts, fentanyl and cocaine)
• Possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000

Welsh also faces separate charges individually. Those consist of one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and five counts of failure to comply with a release order.