LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- A man and a woman from Lackawanna County were in court Thursday answering to charges that they were growing marijuana on their property. The woman has been in the news before when her young son was killed by a driver who was high on marijuana.
Ashley Hazelton and her boyfriend Ricky Torres left Lackawanna County Court after a preliminary hearing Thursday. The couple was charged after police said they stumbled upon their marijuana grow operation while looking for an alleged fugitive last month.
They were looking for Jeremy Lamberti who was accused of threatening his girlfriend with a gun and then running from police. The search for him shut down the borough of Taylor and put schools on lockdown.
A tip led police to a home in Newton Township where Ashley Hazelton and Ricky Torres live. As soon as police got there they began searching the entire property.
They did not find Lamberti there, but according to court papers they did find five marijuana plants inside a shed.
The discovery is ironic given Ashley Hazelton's past.
In 2011, her two-year-old son Cole was killed in a horrific crash on Dark Region Road near Clarks Summit.
The SUV Cole Hazelton was in caught fire after being hit by a teenage driver who was high on marijuana. That driver faced serious charges and did jail time.
Hazelton and Torres did not want to comment after the hearing in Lackawanna County Court, but the couple now faces trial on the drug charges.
