WATERVILLE — Two men remained in jail Thursday after being arrested Wednesday with drug trafficking charges on Elm Street.

Matthew Davidson Waterville Police Department photo

Matthew Davidson, 34, of Waterville, and Amos Roman, 32, of Bronx, New York, were arrested following a monthlong drug trafficking investigation led by Waterville police, Somerset County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said Thursday.

Police stopped a vehicle at 10 a.m. Wednesday on Elm Street and Davidson was in the vehicle, but he fled and officers pursued him on foot, according to Massey.

“As he was running between buildings, he threw something on the roof of a building,” Massey said. “After he was taken into custody, the item was retrieved and it contained a baggie with white powder the officers suspected was drugs.”

Police arrested Davidson and charged him with a number of crimes, including violating conditions of release, because he was out on bail for a charge of trafficking in drugs in November 2020, Massey said. Police also charged Davidson with aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs (cocaine), illegal possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs (Suboxone, which was found on his person), and aggravated furnishing of scheduled drugs, according to Massey.

After Davidson was arrested and taken to the police department, officers armed with a warrant searched his apartment at 77 Elm St. and encountered Roman in the apartment, Massey said.

Police charged Roman with falsifying physical evidence, because he had dumped a fluid down the toilet which police believe were drugs diluted with water, according to Massey. Roman also was charged with aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs and illegal possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and was taken to the police department for processing.

Amos Roman Waterville Police Department photo

Massey said both men were taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta where Davidson was held without bail and is scheduled to appear May 10 in Capital Judicial Court.

Bail was set for Roman at $20,000 cash on the aggravated trafficking charge, $2,500 on the possession of a firearm by a prohibited person charge and $1,000 cash on the charge of falsifying physical evidence. He was not able to make bail Wednesday, according to Massey. Roman is scheduled to appear in court April 26, he said.

A jail spokeswoman confirmed Thursday afternoon that Roman was still at the jail.

Massey said it is always concerning to police when people are selling drugs in the community. The opioid crisis continues to be alive and well and not a day goes by that police aren’t investigating drug matters, according to Massey.

“It’s always good when we can get these hard narcotics off the street,” he said.