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A recent Fort Smith assault investigation unexpectedly morphed into a drug investigation.
According to search warrant documents, RCMP got a report of a man being assaulted with a weapon in the early morning of Sept. 30. Police say the man told them he had been walking in town at 3 a.m. when he saw a man on a bicycle riding toward him. He told police the man seemed intoxicated, stopped and got off his bike and, without provocation, tried to fight him. The victim said the man struck him several times in the head with an extendable metal baton.
Though given under oath by an RCMP officer, none of the statements in the search warrant documents have been proven in court. All accused are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The RCMP found that the suspect, 20-year-old Dominic Abraham, was already facing charges. A condition of his release was that he be in his home between midnight and 6 a.m. They got a warrant to search the Wintergreen Street residence where Abraham lived. While looking for the baton, they found individually wrapped amounts of what appeared to be cocaine under a bed.
They got another search warrant to do a more comprehensive search for evidence of drug trafficking. Police said they found notes that appeared to be records of dollar amounts owed, several scales like those used for weighing out drugs, cash, a mirror with white powder on it and more than 20 cell phones.
In the search warrant documents, the RCMP also reported that there were numerous clear plastic bags of cannabis in plain view in the house, including in the room of a 16-year-old who, one of the officers reported, “asked me to get his bong for him.”
The RCMP say they’re waiting for the results of lab tests on the white powder before deciding whether or not to lay charges against the two women who say they shared the room where the white powder was found. A field test done by the officers during the search indicated it was cocaine, according to the search warrant document.
Abraham remains in custody. He’s charged with assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, failing to comply with his release conditions and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose. He was already facing charges of theft, theft of a motor vehicle, driving while intoxicated, possessing property obtained by crime and possessing break-in instruments.
He’s due to appear in court next on Dec. 5.
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