MINOT – It began with a vehicle stop in the parking lot of a southwest Minot motel and ended with a three-vehicle crash and multiple arrests.
On September 1 of this year a Ward County Drug Task Force officer investigating possible drug activity approached a vehicle on foot. The driver of the vehicle quickly fled the scene at high speed. Shortly thereafter the vehicle crashed into another, causing serious injuries to one of the occupants and sending the vehicle spinning into a third vehicle.
Police called to assist the Task Force officer arrived at the accident moments after it occurred at the intersection of 16th St. SW and 37th Ave. SW. The 37-year-old driver of the fleeing vehicle, Rusty Mason, New Town, are two passengers in his vehicle were placed under arrest.
Mason was charged with Possession with Intent to Manufacture/Deliver-Fentanyl, a class B felony; Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Fleeing a Peace Officer-Vehicle, both class C felonies, and Aggravated Reckless Driving, a misdemeanor A.
Passenger Seth Wounded Face, 35, Parshall, was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Manufacture/Deliver-Fentanyl and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. The third occupant of the fleeing vehicle, Malaysia Benson, 30, Parshall, was charged with Possession with Intent to Manufacture/Deliver-Fentanyl and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
During Thursday’s preliminary hearing the court heard from a Ward County Drug Task Force officer who described the initial stop and the reason for doing so. Judge Douglas Mattson accepted “not guilty” pleas from all three defendants and set a pretrial conference for the trio on December 20, 2023, at 10 a.m.
