PARK RIDGE, N.J.—
This section is based on data provided to Pascack Press weekly by neighborhood police departments. Due to pending court appearances and other variations, the following information shall be read in ‘press time’ context.
Suspicious car report leads to drug arrest
A Madison Avenue resident, 23, faces a charge of possession of marijuana after he and another man were caught in a parked car at Pond Ridge Condos amid marijuana smoke.
The condo superintendent called police just before 11 p.m. on Feb. 25 to report a suspicious vehicle, an unfamiliar black Honda Civic, being occupied by two individuals.
Police found the car past a Dumpster and trailer. The windows were fogged and the occupants turned off the dome light when an officer first passed by.
According to the police report, two units arrived simultaneously. They observed the driver and passenger smoking a hand- rolled marijuana cigarette. An officer requested they lower the driver’s side window, and as it opened, smoke billowed out.
The two were asked to exit the vehicle. Both were interviewed and searched separately and both smelled of raw marijuana.
When an officer told the passenger, 22, of West Nyack, N.Y, he was going to be searched, he handed over a clear plastic bag containing greenish vegetation believed to be marijuana.
The passenger told police he found Pond Ridge Condos earlier in the year “and believed it would be a good place to use narcotics.” The driver told police he had been arrested recently in Croton on the Hudson over narcotics.
Police found the marijuana cigarette in the Honda
The passenger was asked if he had a prescription marijuana card valid for New Jersey. (Answer: No.) He was handcuffed and placed in the rear of vehicle 334.
The driver was free to go. He left for his residence on foot.
After the defendant was processed at headquarters he was given a courtesy ride to an address on Madison Avenue. His charge is answerable March 20 at Pascack Joint Municipal Court.
Businesses, don’t take up customers’ parking spaces
Police responded to a bike shop on Hawthorne Avenue on Feb. 22 just before noon for a parking complaint. The complainant, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that business owners and employees park in the timed parking spots all day long, inhibiting business traffic.
The complainant stated that this has been an on going issue that appears to be worsening.
The officer informed the complainant that he would speak with the businesses and warn them about the issue.
According to the police report, the officer added he would inform the rest of the police department and, from this point on, violators would be subject to receiving summonses.
He was thanked for his time then departed.
He went door to door and informed the local businesses in the area of the issue. All businesses reportedly agreed that there was a problem and understood that violators would be summonsed.
Upon his arrival at headquarters, the officer sent an email to the police department about the issue and said that all businesses were warned about the parking.
Couple has date in court over pot possession
A Montvale woman is charged with possession of marijuana under 50 grams after police stopped her on Feb. 27 just before 11 p.m. over a faulty headlight.
The woman, driving a 2005 Jeep, passed the officer on Grand Avenue. He stopped her in the vicinity of Lafayette Avenue.
“I exited my patrol car and approached the suspect vehicle at the driver side door. Once at the driver side door I immediately detected the odor of raw marijuana emanating from within the vehicle,” the officer reports.
There was a passenger in the Jeep, identified as the driver’s boyfriend.
The driver “eventually said” the boyfriend had marijuana in the trunk of the vehicle, according to the police report. The officer concentrated his search there, coming p with a backpack, inside of which was a notebook containing a clear plastic package, itself containing suspected marijuana.
The evidence was seized and the boyfriend was handcuffed and placed under arrest for possession of marijuana. His girlfriend drove to headquarters and waited for him to be released from custody.
The boyfriend was issued a complaint and his girlfriend was issued a summons for maintenance of lamps and for having a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle. The summonses are answerable at Pascack Joint Municipal Court on March 27.