Crash leads to man being charged with drugs and firearm offences

Detective Sergeant Jason von Tunk, of the Portland police crime investigation unit, said a single-vehicle collision was reported to emergency services about 6am Monday along the Princes Highway at Lyons, between Dartmoor and Heywood.

The 27-year-old male driver, who also lives and works in Cobden, was not injured but his silver Ford Falcon sedan received significant front-end damage.

When Portland uniform police arrived in darkness they discovered the man was wanted on outstanding warrants and he was taken into custody.

There was also a report about an alleged burglary at a nearby home.

The man was taken back to the Portland police station, where he was later released and picked up by a 26-year-old South Australian woman and they returned to the accident scene.

By this time Portland CIU investigators had arrived at the scene and about 9am they found 66 grams of cannabis and a spud gun hidden in roadside scrub.

Detective Sergeant von Tunk said the woman who transported the driver back to the accident scene was also searched and a small amount of methamphetamine was found in her back pack.

She was arrested, interviewed, charged with possession of an illicit drug and bailed to appear in the Portland Magistrates Court in June.

The man was also arrested again, interviewed and bailed to appear in the same court mid-year charged with possession of cannabis and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

Police determined the man only went to the home being renovated to seek assistance.

Fatigue is suspected of being a contributing factor in the initial collision and Detective Sergeant von Tunk requested that any witnesses or anyone with dash camera footage contact the Portland police station on 5522 1500 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

It's also understood there were other items found in the crashed vehicle and police inquiries are continuing into the origins of those goods.