BELCHERTOWN — A Haydenville man is facing 22 charges, including trafficking in cocaine 18 to 36 grams, following a nearly hourlong motor vehicle pursuit that began on Route 9 in Hadley late Friday night and ended with his arrest at the Pelham-Belchertown line on Route 202, according to Hadley police.
Eric M. Kelly-Combs, 32, was taken into custody on charges of trafficking in cocaine, possession with intent to distribute a class B drug, possession with intent to distribute a class D drug, possession with intent to distribute a class E drug, two counts of possession of class D drugs, and assault with a dangerous weapon, along with numerous other charges.
Hadley Police Lt. Jesse Green said the pursuit began Friday at 11:45 p.m., when Hadley officers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle with an expired inspection sticker and whose operator and sole occupant was confirmed to have a suspended driver’s license.
“During the traffic stop, the operator fled the scene in his vehicle, which initiated a pursuit that continued through Amherst, Pelham and ending in Belchertown,” Green said.
The suspect vehicle, which initially traveled at a high rate of speed on Route 9, entered downtown Amherst and damaged its tires at the roundabout at Triangle Street, but continued north via East Pleasant Street, where officers observed the driver throwing a baggie out the window. The pursuit continued on Pine Street and then to Henry and North East streets, before Kelly-Combs turned onto Main Street and retraced the same route.
Amherst police set up stop sticks in the road, which were hit, but Kelly-Combs continued to drive a similar route back to Main Street, before then turning up Pelham Road to Amherst Road in Pelham, where police said more baggies were thrown out the window.
Green said Amherst oolice and State Police assisted in making the arrest a short time after the vehicle got onto Route 202.
In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Tuesday before Judge Tina Cafaro, Kelly-Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges, with the case continued to Nov. 9 for a pretrial conference, said Laurie Loisel, spokesperson for the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
Additional charges Kelly-Combs faces include receiving stolen property under $1,200, withholding evidence from a criminal matter, possession of burglary tools, failure to stop for police, disorderly conduct, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, negligent operation of a motor vehicle to endanger, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, operating a motor vehicle with no inspection sticker, using a electronic device while driving, failure to stay within marked lanes, failure to stop/ yield, committing a passing violation, speeding and throwing litter from a vehicle, Green said.
Cafaro ordered that Kelly-Combs be held on $50,000 bail, more than triple the $15,000 requested by Assistant District Attorney Rachel Lauder. Kelly-Combs was represented by Emily Jones of the Committee for Public Counsel Services.
Kelly-Combs has faced criminal charges in the past, including in 2017 when he was sentenced to three years in state prison on drug possession charges and for assaulting a fellow inmate while both were being held in Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
