Three Newton residents face felony charges in connection with what Newton Police say was an assault and drug theft this past Wednesday. Officers responded to a West 3rd Street South apartment building for a public disturbance. Officers reportedly found 29-year-old Zakk Harold Weatherly, who had blood and swelling on his face, pounding on an apartment door. Weatherly told police he had been assaulted in the street blocks away, by a man in the apartment who stole his backpack. Officers got a search warrant for the apartment after noticing a marijuana odor. Criminal complaints filed in the case show the stolen backpack was recovered from the apartment, along with marijuana and several items with methamphetamine residue on them. In the backpack, officers recovered 501 grams of marijuana, a handgun, digital scales, and packaging material.

Weatherly is charged with possession of a controlled substance and failure to affix a drug tax stamp, both class D felonies, and a serious misdemeanor charge of being a person ineligible to carry a dangerous weapon.

The two people in the apartment also face multiple charges. Thirty-one-year-old Dallas Joseph Johnson faces a class C felony 2nd degree robbery charge, a class D felony control of a firearm or offensive weapon by a felon charge, and a total of five serious misdemeanor charges of 2nd offense possession of a controlled substance-marijuana and unlawful possession of a prescription drug. Thirty-five-year-old Leah Germaine Murphy faces two class D felonies for 3rd offense possession of a controlled substance and control of a firearm or offensive weapon by a felon, and an aggravated misdemeanor charge of accessory after the fact. All three suspects have court hearings scheduled for later this month.