Gunshots draw police to weapons/drug bust in Warfield
By Rossland Telegraph
On Jan. 24, 2023, at 12:51 p.m., frontline Trail RCMP officers responded to the sound of several gunshots coming from a rural property located in the 1300 block of Hwy 3B in Warfield, according to Trail RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich.
He said officers attend the property and located three men standing in the driveway outside of a residence.
“Officers noted that one of the men, a 40-year-old Trail man, was allegedly holding a sawed-off shotgun in his hands,” Wicentowich said. “The man admitted to firing off the shotgun and handed it over an officer after demonstrating that it was unloaded. The man admitted that he did not have a firearm license that allowed him to possess the weapon.
“Officers noted that the shotgun was considered prohibited due to its overall length being too short to legally possess. An officer arrested the man for Possession of a Prohibited Firearm under Section 95(1) of the Criminal Code. The officer searched the man incidental to his arrest and located ammunition, body armour, 21 grams of substance believed to be Fentanyl, 2.7 grams of a substance believed to be Methamphetamine, and 6.5 grams of a substance believe to be Cocaine. The 40-year-old Trail man also had an outstanding warrant of arrest for previously failing to attend court on another criminal charge.”
Police say the man appeared before a judge and was released on several conditions.
Forty-one-year-old William David Tyler will faced several criminal charges in an upcoming court date including:
- Count # 1 – Possession of a prohibited weapon contrary to Section 95(1) of the Criminal Code
- Count # 2 – Possession of a firearm without a valid firearms licence contrary to Section 92(1) of the Criminal Code
- Count # 3 – Possession of body armour without permit contrary to Section 2(2) of the Body Armour Control Act
- Count # 4 – Possess of Controlled Substance contrary to Section 4(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act
- Count # 5 – Possess of Controlled Substance contrary to Section 4(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act
- Count # 6 – Possess of Controlled Substance contrary to Section 4(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act
The man was cooperative with police and turned over the shotgun immediately. The subsequent investigation yielded a significant amount of what was believed to be illicit drugs and some body armour. It is a lot easier for the police to enforce the law when the accused does something to attract our attention such as in this incident, Wicentowich said.
