FAIRMONT — A Fairmont man is facing felony charges in Martin County.

Christopher Lloyd Vanryswyk, 37, has been charged with drug possession in the third degree which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He has also been charged with drug possession in the fifth degree, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the complaint:

On May 20, Fairmont police officers were dispatched to the area of West Fourth Street and Lake Avenue in Fairmont on a call of a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt who was walking back and forth in front of houses and acting suspicious.

The first officer to arrive observed the man walking and rolled his window down while he was standing at an intersection corner and asked the man if he was all right. The man did not respond, even after the officer asked again.

The officer then advised the man he was going to pull around so he could talk to him in the parking lot. The officer turned into the parking lot and called out to the man who was still standing at the corner. At this time, the man started to cross the street.

The officer yelled at the man twice to stop, but the man continued to walk away, crossing Fourth Street. A second officer arrived on scene, got out of his squad vehicle and attempted to make contact, advising the man to stop. The man then turned and started to run away.

The officer yelled “Stop, police,” several times but the man continued to run south toward the houses in the 300 block of Lake Avenue. The officer pursued the man and was able to tackle him to the ground. The man was arrested after considerable effort due to his active resistance.

The officer searched the man and discovered a green glass pipe commonly used for smoking meth, along with a baggie containing a substance that later tested positive for meth.

The man was later identified as Vanryswyk.

Vanryswyk possessed the meth within a park zone and a check on his record indicates he has multiple prior convictions for controlled substance crime.