DUBOIS – A Luthersburg man charged with fighting with police is facing new charges for possessing drugs as a result of the same incident.
Thomas James Desmond, 22, 91 Donahue Rd., Luthersburg, is charged with four counts of manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal use of communication facility, seven counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance by person not registered, seven counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence of a controlled substance and four traffic summaries as a result of an incident in Brady Township on Sept. 21. He recently waived his right to a preliminary hearing during Centralized Court. His bail is $10,000.
The charges stem from an incident on Sept. 21 along Salem Road, where Desmond crashed a vehicle and then fled. He also allegedly punched and kicked an officer as he resisted being handcuffed. Desmond was charged previously with two counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault, and resisting arrest in October. A later search of the vehicle uncovered several controlled substances.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police responded to a crash site where the driver had fled the scene. The vehicle traveled across the center line and off the north side of the road, and down an embankment where the left front end struck the ground.
Before another officer could get there, the trooper observed a white female standing along state Route 410 close to the scene of the accident. The woman, Samantha Sullivan, said she was in her Desmond’s car when they had a fight. He kicked her out of the car and took off. The officer took her to the crash scene where she identified the vehicle as the one Desmond who is her boyfriend, was driving.
When the officer got into the passenger side of the vehicle to look for registration and insurance information, he found a semi-automatic pistol lying on the floor in the front driver’s side. Also in plain view was a rifle that was lying behind the driver’s seat. Both firearms were confiscated. The vehicle was towed to the DuBois-based state police station and impounded.
Another officer was on the way to the crash scene when he received a call about a man who was acting crazy and had jumped into a woman’s vehicle on Salem Road. This trooper responded to that scene where he saw Desmond walking along the road. The trooper ordered Desmond to put his hands on the car. As he was patting Desmond down, Desmond tried to fight by swinging his arms and kicking at the officer. The officer pulled Desmond to the ground and Desmond fell on the officer’s right hand, causing abrasions and contusions. The officer was able to get one handcuff on as Desmond continued to resist. Desmond got up and swung his arms at the officer again. But the officer was able to get the second cuff on. During this encounter, Desmond said crazy things like “watch out for that truck!” when there was no truck near them. It appeared to the officer that Desmond was high on bath salts. As a result of the struggle, a large amount of money fell out of Desmond’s pocket and was also confiscated. It totaled $3,123.
When another trooper arrived on the scene where Desmond had been taken into custody, he saw the other trooper telling Desmond to stop struggling. The second trooper noticed one of the cuffs was loose and slipping, and he tightened it. Desmond continued to be combative and disobey commands. At one point, Desmond struggled again and kicked the second trooper in the left thigh. Desmond was taken to DuBois Regional Medical Center to be evaluated because of his extreme drug-induced state. Desmond’s blood tested positive for cocaine and benzodiazepines.
A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle and police were able to locate several baggies containing white powder, a baggie with packaging material, a baggie containing synthetic marijuana, a baggie of beige powder, green vegetable matter, small green pills, small white pills, a glass smoking pipe, a digital scale, bags of assorted ammunition, and a silver pill press. An additional search of the vehicle uncovered lab equipment, lab books with instructions on how to manufacture methamphetamines, cutting agents, baggies, empty heroin packets, four empty parcels from California and North Carolina, two laptop computers and four cell phones.
The various drugs were tested and found to be 269.23 grams of synthetic stimulants, 36.79 grams of marijuana, 1.18 grams of hashish, 1.35 grams of mushrooms, and 10.13 grams of synthetic marijuana, cocaine residue, 0.25 grams of morphine and a clonazepam tablet.