PARK RIDGE, N.J.—An officer traveling east on Park Avenue on the afternoon of Feb. 14 observed a white rack truck approaching west at a fast clip.
As the suspect vehicle passed Homestead Place it was locked into police radar at 36 mph in a 25 mph school zone. Amber school zone lights were flashing to indicate that children were present and the speed limit is 25 mph.
The officer also noted the truck’s windshield was cracked approximately 2 feet across.
The officer turned and followed, stopping the truck on Parkview Drive. There, he noted the truck’s license plate was secured to the vehicle by a wrapped bungee cord.
In speaking with the driver, the officer detected “an overwhelming odor of a masking agent emanating from within the vehicle. Once the masking agent dissipated, I detected the odor or raw marijuana emanating from within the vehicle,” the report reads in part.
The defendant explained the masking odor by saying he’d been burning incense.
Once the officer had the defendant’s credentials, he called for another unit to respond. The defendant handed over a box cutter and confirmed that he had marijuana in his backpack. A search of the pack yielded a bud of marijuana and a black pipe that contained burnt and raw marijuana.
The defendant also turned over a red plastic container containing suspected kief, or cannabis crystals, but the report says this was of insufficient quantity to test.
The defendant was arrested and taken to headquarters, where he was processed and given summonses over possession of marijuana under 50 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia, improper safety glass, speeding, and fictitious plates.
Just after 5 p.m. he was released from custody and given a ride back to his truck.
