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SALT LAKE CITY — A Magna man who was placed on probation just two weeks ago is now facing drug and weapons-related charges following what prosecutors are calling an "extensive" investigation.
Lucas Joseph Madrill, 19, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; plus aggravated assault, failing to respond to an officer's signal to stop, and drug possession with intent to distribute, third-degree felonies.
On Saturday, Salt Lake police — following "an extensive THC cartridge distribution investigation" — served search warrants at a residence near 800 North and 1500 West, and at a "stash house" near 7600 West and 3600 South, according to charging documents. Detectives had been monitoring the Magna location that day and observed Madrill and another vehicle pulling a U-Haul trailer arrive at the alleged stash house
Madrill and another man "proceeded to remove large cardboard boxes from the U-Haul and put them in a storage shed on the west side of the residence," according to the charges. "Madrill and the other male unloaded approximately 38 boxes from the U-Haul and put them in the shed."
A plan was made to arrest Madrill when he arrived at his residence. But as he was parking his car, "Madrill seemed to realize what was happening and began maneuvering his vehicle to flee," the charges state, adding that Madrill slammed into a police vehicle that had moved next to him in an attempt to prevent him from fleeing.
After he was arrested and during a subsequent search of Madrill's vehicle and the stash house, police recovered a gun, 14,000 THC cartridges, about $4,000 in cash and other THC products, according to the charging documents.
Wednesday's charges come a day after Madrill was charged in 3rd District Court in a separate case with drug possession with intent to distribute, a third-degree felony, and less than two weeks after being convicted of failing to stop at the command of police and being placed on probation.
According to court records, Madrill fled from police on Sept. 13, 2022, on Nov. 6, 2022, and on March 18. He was charged in three separate cases and reached a plea deal on Aug. 25 to resolve all of the incidents and was placed on probation.
Prosecutors have now requested that Madrill be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail pending trial, noting that he "has multiple firearm convictions and continues to carry a firearm, telling police that he wouldn't be caught without his gun."
