NEWARK — The fugitive 31-year-old man at the center of an earlier assault case against a police officer accused of assault during a 2013 apprehension in Dover was arrested on a firearm charge early Thursday morning, the Delaware State Police said.
Lateef
Dickerson
Lateef Dickerson, whose address was listed in Middletown, was a passenger in a gray Honda Odyssey that was initially stopped for an alleged traffic violation at 1:05 a.m., authorities said. The vehicle was southbound on Churchman’s Road just north of Del. 1 when stopped, according to police.
An unloaded .30 caliber silver US Revolver Company handgun was allegedly found in a Crown Royal bag in the vehicle’s back seat, according to state police spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, and Mr. Dickerson and two other persons were charged with carrying a concealed deadly weapon and possession of firearm by person prohibited.
The men were taken into custody without incident and transported to Troop 2 in Glasgow, police said. The state police Governor’s Task Force was on patrol and made the apprehensions, police said.
Mr. Dickerson was seen in a dashcam video being kicked in the jaw by Dover Police Department Cpl. Thomas Webster IV in August 2013. Cpl. Webster was found not guilty of assault at a jury trial in Kent County Superior Court in early December 2015.
According to Cpl. Fournier, Mr. Dickerson was wanted by the Middletown Police Department on various felony charges after investigation into an alleged incident on Sept. 16, 2015.
Mr. Dickerson was held at Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington on $30,000 secured bond regarding Thursday’s charges, police said. He was arraigned in JP Court 11 in New Castle.
Also arrested were Von Smith, 33, of Newark, and Taron Hampton, 31, of Wilmington, police said. Mr. Smith was released on $13,000 unsecured bond, and Mr. Hampton was held at Young Correctional. Mr. Hampton, on probation, was given a $30,000 cash bail regarding Thursday’s charges, police said, and was wanted on capiases from numerous courts.
Police identified Mr. Smith as the driver, and said Mr. Dickerson was seen in the front passenger’s seat, with Mr. Hampton in the back seat.
According to the Delaware Department of Justice in late December, an unrelated case against Mr. Dickerson had been scheduled for a plea on Jan. 12 in Kent County Superior Court.
The DOJ said Mr. Dickerson was also sought by Middletown police on three arrest warrants regarding alleged burglaries on Sept. 16 and 17, 2015, and failure to register as a sex offender after changing residence. Officials said Kent County Superior Court has a capias out for violation of probation.
Earlier, the DOJ said Mr. Dickerson was scheduled to go to trial in Kent County Superior Court regarding two counts of possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, two counts of receiving a stolen firearm and one count of conspiracy.