A Morristown man ran from police and tossed a loaded revolver into a dumpster before being arrested, according to Morristown police.
Delmar Walker, 34, faces weapons charges and obstructing the administration of law in the Dec. 26, 2019, incident.
Detectives Scott Weaver and Teddy Jones were patrolling Martin Luther King Avenue in an unmarked vehicle on the morning after Christmas when Jones saw Walker leaving a grocery store. The detectives knew of arrest warrants for Walker.
Recognizing Weaver, who has arrested him before, Walker ran when the detectives drove toward him, according to Weaver’s probable cause affidavit, obtained Friday by MorristownGreen.com.
The detectives gave chase on foot as Walker headed toward Flagler Street.
“I yelled to him, “Police, Stop. Delmar Walker you are under arrest. You have warrants,'” Weaver recounted in the court document.
Weaver lost sight of Walker on Clyde Potts Drive, and searches by backup patrols failed to locate the suspect.
Subsequently, a concerned citizen reported that Walker had thrown an object into a dumpster on Flagler Street during the chase. “I don’t want any children finding a gun down there,” the citizen told police.
A black .22 caliber revolver loaded with six bullets was found in the dumpster by Officer Bruce LaFera, according to police.
A Morristown Housing Authority surveillance camera appeared to show Walker throwing something into the dumpster at 11:28 am, while being chased by Weaver. The video then showed Walker enter a building on Clyde Potts Drive. Police arrested him there.
Walker denied jettisoning the gun, telling police he had tossed a plastic bag containing marijuana into the dumpster, police said. A second search found no marijuana; video indicated nobody had tampered with the dumpster since the initial search, according to police.
Walker had no permit for the weapon, and was not allowed to have one because of a prior burglary conviction, states the affidavit. His rap sheet has five criminal convictions, including two counts of burglary, drug possession on school property, and drug distribution, according to the police complaint.
In 2011, Walker was shot in the leg on Abbett Avenue by the Dover head of a drug ring, reported the Star-Ledger. Rashan Caldwell pled guilty in 2014 to drug offenses and weapons charges in that case.
New charges against Walker include violating a prohibition on having a weapon, unlawful handgun possession, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and obstructing the administration of law.
Walker was taken to the Morris County Jail.
