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Gunfire involved in drug bust

July 23, 2008|Fred Petke

A pair of drug investigations converged Tuesday afternoon, ending with a police pursuit, warning shots, a search for drugs and a narrow escape for a wheelchair-bound man.

Shelby W. Banks, 28, of Paris, is facing a multitude of charges this morning following the pursuit around Market Street and Stamper Drive. Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue said a detective had been investigating a suspected drug dealer on Dale Drive for some time and, through another investigation, suspected the driver of a red Ford pickup truck was carrying drugs.

When Detective Robert Webb attempted to stop the truck near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and Stamper Drive, the truck took off through the neighborhood and the Quick Shop trailer park. As he did, he sideswiped a man in a motorized wheelchair on Market Street, sending the chair into a spin and Banks' truck off the road into two trees and over an embankment, according to the report filed by Winchester Police.

The man in the chair, 47-year-old Raymond Collins, was not injured, but his chair was disabled in the incident, police said.

"He was very, very lucky he wasn't killed," Perdue said.

Banks got out of the truck and started to run through a field, tossing items from his pockets as he ran, Perdue said. Detective Arlen Horton yelled for him to stop and fired a warning shot when Banks stopped and reached into his pants, as if he was going for a weapon, Perdue said.

Banks ran again through an overgrown, unpopulated area before he was finally captured and arrested, he said.

With the help of Winchester Police K9 Officer Dennis Briscoe, officers recovered marijuana, cocaine and pills, which Banks allegedly threw as he ran from officers.

"He was throwing stuff out from his pants," Perdue said. "We hope (we found it all)."

No weapons were found during the search, he said.

Following the pursuit, sheriff's deputies executed a search warrant at 1135 Dale Drive, Apt. 2, which Banks had just left. Deputies confiscated amounts of cocaine, marijuana and pills and arrested the resident, 34-year-old Edward K. Townsend, on several drug charges.

Banks was charged with reckless driving, driving on a suspended operator's license, first-degree fleeing or evading police (two counts), first-degree wanton endangerment, wanton endangerment of a police officer (three counts), first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (two counts), trafficking in marijuana and second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance. He was placed in the Clark County Detention Center.

Banks is being held on a $25,000 cash bond.

Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.com.

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