Car Overturns in Wales Crash - Update: US Attorney Says Driver Was Fleeing Agents, Threw Cocaine from Vehicle

Update Nov. 17 (new info below). At least one person was injured Tuesday in a rollover car accident on Route 20 and Two Rod Road in Wales and was taken to the hospital by Mercy Flight. The crash occurred around noon on Nov. 15.

No details were released at the time, though one witness stated the driver of the vehicle had tried to evade police. The vehicle was heavily damaged and came to rest upside down in the southwest corner of the Mobil gas station parking lot. The Wales Center Fire Company was on scene to assist with the incident.

There were also several police agencies on hand, including Drug Enforcement Administration officers, New York State Troopers and Erie County Sheriff’s deputies.

Update: The office of United States Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. released information Nov. 17 about a multi-agency drug investigation, as well as the circumstances surrounding a Nov. 15 car crash in the Town of Wales.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Michael McCabe, who is handling the prosecution of this case, agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Richard Himbury in East Aurora on Nov. 15. Himbury sped off, but lost control and flipped his car at the intersection of Route 20A and Two Rod Road.

Himbury, a 40-year-old Tonawanda resident, was a target in an investigation by federal, state and local law enforcement officials, and was charged with possessing and trafficking in substantial amounts of cocaine and marijuana.

An additional person was also arrested in connection with the investigation. If convicted of these charges, the defendants face a mandatory term of imprisonment of ten years, a maximum sentence of life, and a $10 million fine.

Agents reportedly recovered four ounces of cocaine which Himbury threw out his car window during the chase. Continuing their investigation, agents proceeded to the defendant's residence at 19 St. Amelia Drive, Tonawanda. There, they allegedly found approximately eight kilograms of cocaine, one-hundred pounds of marijuana, and $120,000 in U.S. Currency.

"This week's arrests and seizures demonstrate that there is a tremendous amount of cocaine and marijuana entering our Western New York community,” U.S. Attorney Hochul stated. “Fortunately, the many pounds of narcotics successfully seized by law enforcement will no longer be available to pollute our streets or harm our residents. The public and traffickers alike should know that this office is committed to pursuing traffickers and their sources of supply, and it makes no difference whether such defendants live or operate in our cities, suburban or rural areas, or even if they may be located out of our state or our country."

DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Wilbert L. Plummer stated, "Over $750,000 worth of illegal drugs were being distributed by this drug trafficking organization throughout our streets in the Buffalo area. DEA and our federal, state and local counterparts have been committed to ridding our community of drug supply, demand and abuse. These arrests also have brought this organization to face to the consequences of their illegal actions to the courtroom full of their peers."

The arrests and seizures were the result of a joint and continuing investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Investigators from the Buffalo Police Department, the Lockport Police Department, the Tonawanda Police Department, the Amherst Police Department, the Erie County Sheriff's Department, the New York State Police, the Lancaster Police Department, the Casino Division of the Cattaraugus County Sherriff's Department, and the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force.

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