Why Derrik Lajoie might have a hard time getting bail

A North Bay man out on bail on drugs and weapons charges has been charged with aggravated assault.

Derrik Lajoie, 21, of 387 Fraser Street, was charged by the North Bay Police Service Sunday.

The charge relates to an incident Sunday in which three males chased a fourth male along Lakeshore. The male was caught and beaten, and then hospitalized overnight for serious injuries to his face and the back of his head.

Lajoie had been charged earlier when what appears to have been a budding North Bay Ecstasy operation was shut down following a raid in March by Project Gateway.

Officers from Project Gateway, a joint investigation between the Ontario Provincial Police and the North Bay Police Service, obtained a warrant under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act and searched a Fraser Street apartment March 21, assisted by city police officers.

The ensuing search, which went off without incident, resulted in a “significant” amount of Ecstasy being found, said Det. Sgt. Bill O’Shea, of the OPP Drug Enforcement Section.

Two pounds of marijuana were also found, O’Shea said, as well as drug paraphernalia including scales, packaging and smokers.

Lajoie, two other men and a 17-year-old female were in the apartment at the time, O’Shea said.

Lajoie was charged with:

1) Possession for the purpose of Trafficking Marihuana 5(2) Controlled Drugs and Substances Act;

2) Possession for the purpose of trafficking Ecstasy 5(2) CDSA;

3) Possession of a prohibited weapon (expandable baton) 91(2) CCC;

4) Breach of weapons prohibition order. 117.01 CCC.

Yvan Montcalm, of the North Bay Police Service, confirmed it was the same Derrik Lajoie in both cases.