Watertown man faces drug, drunk driving charges

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) - A 30 year old Watertown, man who was arrested last summer in connection with a police standoff, now faces drug, drunk driving and other charges.

City police charged Karim Mitchell-Rahim of 232 West Main Street with:

- third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell

- driving while intoxicated

- third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle

- operating a motor vehicle without a license

- unsafe passing

Shortly before 2 a.m. Friday, police spotted a vehicle pass another at a high rate of speed on Court Street.

According to police, the officer pulled over the driver, Mitchell-Rahim, and determined he was drunk. Mitchell-Rahim refused to take a breathalyzer test, police said.

Police said Mitchell-Rahim had 110 glassine bags of a white substance that field tested positive for heroin as well as more than $800 in cash.

He was arraigned in city court and released on his own recognizance.

On August 23, 2019, Karim Mitchell-Rahim was arrested following a standoff with police at an apartment at 605 Boyd Street.

Police said they were called to the parking lot of the Great American supermarket on State Street just before 4 a.m., where a woman told them her boyfriend had “had menaced her with a knife and handgun, broke her cell phone and obstructed her breathing.”

Police said they tried to talk to the boyfriend, but he wouldn’t come outside, prompting a stand-off which lasted until just after 8 a.m., and which shut down part of Boyd Street. Police had help from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office and both departments’ emergency response teams.

After he gave up, Mitchell-Rahim was taken to Samaritan Medical Center for an evaluation. Police said they searched the apartment and found weapons and drugs.

No one was hurt.

Mitchell-Rahim faced numerous charges in connection with that case.