A Sarnia man facing nearly 20 charges after police were called about a suspect waving an alleged handgun downtown has a court-ordered lifetime weapons ban in place.
The call from a concerned citizen came in shortly after 5 pm Tuesday in the 100 block of Christina Street North – between Davis and Lochiel streets – and officers from the community response division saw the handgun in plain view when they arrived, police said in a statement .
“The handgun was fake,” Sarnia police added in a Twitter post about the incident.
Police included a photo of the imitation handgun on the social media post alongside what appears to be other weapons, drugs, and drug-trafficking materials.
A suspect was arrested and a total of 18 charges were laid, police said. They also thanked the citizen for calling them and noted there were no injuries.
Marcell Page, 38, from Sarnia, is charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking allegedly linked to meth and fentanyl, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, five counts of possession of a weapon contrary to a prohibition order, six counts of breach of recognizance, three counts of possession of identity documents, and a single charge of failing to comply with a prohibition order regarding children, police said. Page was held for a bail hearing, they added.
Page, wearing a dark T-shirt, appeared in bail court Wednesday afternoon, where all 18 charges were read out loud to him. He was kept in custody and his case was adjourned to next week, but first he was banned from contacting two people. He did not have a bail hearing.
Page was sentenced in 2013 to more than three months in jail for possession of a dangerous weapon – a knife – along with theft and violating a court order. He was also jailed in 2011 for violent behavior against three former girlfriends, which included holding a knife to one of their throats.
Page has had a lifetime weapons ban in place since 2011.