EVERETT — Aaron Knapp has been slinging drugs for at least a decade and earlier this week he ran afoul of the law again.
This time the cops say Knapp was carrying heroin and methamphetamine, totaling more than a pound. He also allegedly had a stash of firearms, including a gun used to stop tanks.
Knapp, 40, was out of custody Wednesday pending trial in two separate Snohomish County drug cases when he was arrested outside an Everett storage unit.
Police say he was driving a Mercedes loaded with more than $50,000 worth of heroin and meth and $40,000 in cash. The convicted felon also was driving around with three loaded guns, according to a police affidavit filed Friday.
Detectives with the Snohomish Regional Drug and Gang Task Force later found a cache of weapons in Knapp’s storage locker, court papers said.
There were 13 rifles in total, including what appeared to be a Finnish anti-tank gun dating back to World War II. About half the guns were stolen.
Knapp made a brief appearance Friday in Everett District Court. A judge ordered him held on $1 million bail. Another judge revoked his release in the two pending felony charges, setting bail on those cases at $400,000.
Court records show that Knapp has been under investigation for dealing drugs in Snohomish County at least since August 2013.
He has four prior convictions for drug and gun crimes out of Island County. The most recent happened in 1998 and sent Knapp to prison for more than four years. He also was convicted in 2011 of trying to outrun cops in King County, sending him back to prison for several months.
Detectives with the Snohomish County task force were watching Knapp’s Lynnwood house in the summer of 2013. They reportedly heard from several sources that Knapp was selling large amounts of meth and heroin out of the home. Sources reported that Knapp was buying and selling guns, too, police wrote in a search warrant.
Knapp was stopped as he drove away on a motorcycle. He allegedly was carrying a glass pipe and more than $2,500 in cash. A drug-sniffing dog signaled that there were drugs in the motorcycle and cops allegedly found meth and heroin in the rear seat compartment, court papers said. Detectives also allegedly seized drugs, a money counter and $4,000 from the house.
Knapp reportedly told detectives he was an unemployed student collecting money from a Labor and Industries claim. Knapp is listed as the owner of The Filthy Technician, an automotive repair business, according to state records.
Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Janice Albert charged Knapp in January with drug possession with intent to deliver. A week later she charged him with drug possession while armed with a gun stemming from an investigation by Everett police officers in December.
In that case, Everett police got word that Knapp was dealing out of his house on 75th Street SE. An informant reportedly told cops that he’d bought meth and heroin from Knapp more than 30 times. Everett officers arrested Knapp as he left his Everett home. He reportedly had a loaded .38-caliber semi-automatic handgun tucked in his waistband.
Police later searched Knapp’s house and allegedly seized a quarter of a pound of heroin and about a half-pound of meth. They also found a handgun, rifle, holsters and ammunition, Albert wrote in court papers.
Knapp’s attorney, Mark Mestel, has since challenged the search at the Everett house, saying the cops failed to prove that they had the legal footing to enter his client’s residence. The veteran Everett defense attorney is arguing that the police were relying on stale information and the word of a man they had arrested. He’s asked a judge to toss out the evidence seized during the search.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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