(From left: Joseph Clark, James Stagias. Center: Daniel Potts)GERMANTOWN, N.Y. – Three men were arrested after the Columbia County Sheriff's Office teamed up with the Capital Region drug task force for an illegal drug sales investigation.
The investigation ended with the arrests of Joseph Clark, 20 of Germantown, Daniel Potts, 24 of Livingston, and James Stagias, 25 of Elizaville.
A search warrant was issued for the residence of Joseph Clark on East Camp Road in Germantown on Thursday.
During the execution of the search warrant, while the Sheriff's Office S.W.A.T team entered the residence identifying themselves as police officers, the occupants immediately attempted to destroy evidence and actively resisted arrest. No law enforcement officers were injured; however, Stagias sustained a laceration to his hand and was treated at Columbia Memorial Hospital and released.
Over 5 grams of heroin along with drug packaging equipment, supplies and paraphernalia were recovered as a result of the search warrant. Clark is believed to distribute illegal drugs in the southern Columbia and northern Dutchess County areas.
The three were charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd-Degree a class D-Felony, Tampering with Physical Evidence a class E-Felony, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th-Degree, Resisting Arrest and Possession of a Hypodermic Instrument all class A-Misdemeanors.
All three defendants were arraigned in the Clermont Town Justice Court by Town Justice Ronald Banks and remanded to the county jail without bail to return at a later date.
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