Newcomerstown man in jail for driving around New Phila ‘indiscriminately firing a weapon’
NEW PHILADELPHIA – A 29-year-old Newcomerstown man has been charged with six counts, including four felonies, in relation to a shooting that took place Friday at a busy intersection in New Philadelphia.
Zachary Taylor did not enter a plea during his initial appearance in New Philadelphia Municipal Court Tuesday morning. They include felony firearm and tampering charges and misdemeanor charges of using weapons while intoxicated and aggravated menacing.
Magistrate Christine Weimer read the six counts that allege Taylor fired a gun from a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“The evidence seems very strong against you,” Weimer said. “They’re saying that you admitted to driving around town at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, indiscriminately firing a weapon.”
Prosecutor Ryan Styer says police tracked Taylor to a room at the Travel Lodge on Blue Bell Drive where they found a significant quantity of hidden drugs. Styer alleged Taylor was using and dealing drugs. leading up to him indiscriminately firing a handgun out of a moving vehicle on West High Avenue near Bud and Tooties.
Taylor spoke in court and unsuccessfully argued for his release. He said that was the first time he’d been to that hotel room, and the drugs weren’t his. He said, “I’m obviously going to prison,” so wanted some time to spend with his two young children before that. He said he is not a flight risk.
Weimer set Taylor’s bond at $50,000, calling him a significant risk of harm to the general public, and sent him to the Tuscarawas County Jail.
Styer says Taylor was driving the vehicle when he and another male shot separate handguns out of the window with no apparent target. New Philadelphia Police have not identified the other shooting suspect but Tuesday filed a second complaint with similar charges against a Dover man. The second suspect was still at large as of Wednesday morning, but both guns had been confiscated.