A Packwood man was arrested and charged for drug offenses after Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) detectives surveilling a Chehalis residence saw him allegedly take part in a drug deal on …
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A Packwood man was arrested and charged for drug offenses after Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) detectives surveilling a Chehalis residence saw him allegedly take part in a drug deal on Tuesday.
Bradley Wayne Hamrick, 39, was booked into the Lewis County Jail just before 3:55 p.m. on Jan. 21, according to jail records. He was charged Wednesday, Jan. 22, in Lewis County Superior Court with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver and one count of first-degree driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Bail is set at $100,000.
Hamrick was arrested after JNET detectives who were surveilling a residence in the 300 block of Chehalis Avenue on Jan. 21 reportedly saw a man in a Tahoe drive up, enter the residence and leave after less than five minutes, “which detectives noted was consistent with drug transaction activity,” according to court documents.
JNET detectives previously identified the Chehalis Avenue residence as “being associated with drug activities and drug activity complaints,” with detectives noting that, due to information gathered in previous JNET investigations, they “believed the individuals associated with the apartment were being supplied narcotics via a source of supply from the Longview, Washington area,” according to court documents.
Detectives reportedly saw “multiple individuals with recent drug arrests” entering and exiting the apartment.
“During JNET’s investigation, controlled substances in dealer and user quantities have been seized from persons leaving (the apartment) on multiple occasions,” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office states in charging documents.
JNET detectives reportedly followed the Tahoe as it left the apartment complex on Jan. 21 and drove to a nearby gas station. The driver, who has since allegedly been identified as Hamrick, reportedly exited the vehicle and “began to look around as if he was checking for someone following him,” then got back into the vehicle and drove to the Rochester area.
Hamrick allegedly spent two hours at a Rochester residence that the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force has “identified as suspicious … due to high vehicular traffic and suspected drug activity,” according to court documents.
An unidentified male then reportedly gave Hamrick a drone, which JNET detectives noted “was consistent with drug transactions as if the male traded the drone for drugs,” according to court documents.
Hamrick then reportedly drove the Tahoe to the Rainier area and turned down a dead-end road, at which point a JNET detective activated his vehicle’s emergency lights and initiated a traffic stop.
The Tahoe reportedly “completed a U-turn and began to accelerate away,” but was blocked by the detective’s patrol vehicle.
The JNET detective who stopped Hamrick reportedly recognized Hamrick from previous cases and noted “Mr. Hamrick was associated with drug trafficking and has a tendency to run from law enforcement,” according to court documents.
Hamrick’s criminal history includes convictions for attempt to elude, bail jumping, conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, second-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter.
When questioned, Hamrick allegedly “admitted to a user amount of drugs being in the vehicle and claimed all of the vehicle’s contents were his.”
After the detective’s K9 partner, K9 Pip, alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle, detectives obtained a search warrant and searched the vehicle.
Inside, they reportedly found 9 grams of suspected fentanyl powder, 166 grams of suspected meth, narcotics packaging, a realistic-looking BB gun, and U.S. currency in denominations of $20 and under.
“The detectives believed that due to the quantity, packaging and currency that Mr. Hamrick possessed the controlled substances with intent to deliver,” the Lewis County Prosecutor's Office states in charging documents.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 30.