Police: 200 bags of fentanyl ditched during foot chase in North Adams | The Berkshire Eagle

By Adam Shanks, The Berkshire Eagle

NORTH ADAMS — A city man who led police on a brief foot chase Wednesday night allegedly tried to ditch 200 bags of fentanyl.

Marquis Williamson, 31, is being held on $1,500 bail after being arraigned Friday in Northern Berkshire District Court.

The incident began about 10 p.m., when police received a report that someone was trying to sell drugs to customers at the McDonald’s drive-thru, according to a criminal complaint filed by North Adams Police Detective Joshua Zustra.

Police stopped two vehicles that left McDonald’s, including a Toyota Corolla sedan with Williamson riding in the passenger seat.

Williamson, who fit the description of the man selling the drugs, was ordered out of the car after the stop on Hall Street,

When police found what they believed to be a 10-bag bundle of heroin, Williamson sprinted down the driveway of a nearby home and into a backyard. He was quickly captured after running only about 170 feet, hopping over a fence and near a wooded area.

Police found Williamson’s decision to flee odd, given the relatively small amount of heroin he possessed, the report said.

Officers circled back along the path that Williamson had fled, which was dark at the time of the chase, and discovered that an additional 200 bags of drugs had been discarded.

Police noted that the powder inside the bags was white, not tan, like heroin. It later tested positive for the presence of fentanyl, a deadly opioid about 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

If sold on the street in North Adams, police believe the fentanyl and heroin would be worth $1,470 to $2,100.

Williamson pleaded not guilty to single counts of possession to distribute a class A drug, subsequent offense, and wanton destruction of property less than $1,200.

He is next scheduled to appear May 20 for a pretrial hearing.

Williamson was convicted of possession to distribute a class A drug in Northern Berkshire District Court in 2015.

Adam Shanks can be reached at ashanks@berkshireeagle.com, at @EagleAdamShanks on Twitter, or 413-629-4517.