‘I ran out of gas’ under overpass; drug arrest
An officer heading west on Glen Road on the afternoon of Jan. 8 reports he when I noticed a car parked with its hazard lights activated underneath the overpass of the Garden State Parkway northbound lane.
He pulled behind the vehicle and activated the rear lights of patrol car for the protection of the motorist and himself. He then approached the driver side area of the vehicle and encountered the driver, who stated that he’d run out of gas.
The officer detected a strong odor of burnt marijuana emanating from the passenger compartment of the vehicle, then radioed for an additional unit to respond to the scene.
The defendant, 28, of Lincoln Park, said he’d smoked marijuana in the vehicle earlier in the day and that there was a joint in the center console.
Indeed there was.
The defendant was arrested, a Park Ridge officer arrived to wait for the duty tow, and the defendant was taken to headquarters.
There, he was served complaint summons for marijuana under 50 grams and the following motor vehicle summonses: driving after license/registration suspended/revoked, and operation of a motor vehicle while in possession of narcotics.
All three summonses were returnable to the Pascack Joint Municipal Court on Jan. 22.
Men arriving to spring impounded car show up with marijuana
Two men, one from the Bronx, N.Y., and one from Charlotte, N.C., responded to police headquarters on the afternoon of Jan. 22 to retrieve a vehicle that had been impounded over a shoplifting arrest here.
Once the release was approved at police headquarters, two officers drove up to the impound lot with the two parties following in their vehicle. At the lot, the officers got out and approached the men’s gray BMW, which bore Texas temporary registration.
“Upon speaking with the passengers, we both detected the odor of raw marijuana emanating from the passenger compartment of the vehicle. We asked both parties if they had anything in the vehicle and [the Bronx man, 20] turned over a bag containing greenish vegetation believed to be marijuana,” the reporting officer said.
A consent search yielded two packs of rolling papers, an ash tray with a joint in it, and an additional ash tray in a bag in the trunk. The Bronx man said that the marijuana and paraphernalia belonged to him.
He was handcuffed and placed in the rear of a patrol car. He was taken to headquarters, placed in a cell, read his Miranda rights, fingerprinted, and photographed.
He was issued complaint summons over the marijuana and paraphernalia and issued motor vehicle summonses over operation of a motor vehicle while in possession of narcotic and driving with an expired license.
The summonses were returnable to the Pascack Joint Municipal Court on Jan. 22.
