PUBLIC SAFETY

IMPD: Marijuana suspect warns cops about frisking him

Bill McCleery
bill.mccleery@indystar.com

When officers pulled over an Indianapolis man for driving an ATV four-wheeler on city streets, he had something up his sleeve — or down his pants, actually — he wanted to hide, police said.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sunday, officers stopped the 21-year-old man on the Near Northside in the area of 25th and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. streets, according to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report.

The first officer to approach the man immediately smelled “fresh, raw marijuana,” according to police documents. When questioned, the man told police he had already smoked the marijuana and the officer likely just smelled it on his clothing.

After explaining to the man he could tell the difference between the smells of burnt and raw marijuana, the officer proceeded to search the suspect, including checking in his pants.

When the officer’s search neared the suspect’s crotch, the man became nervous, police said.

“As I began to look, (the suspect) told me he had herpes and to be careful,” an officer wrote in his report.

About that time, a white plastic bag fell from the man’s pants, according to the document.

The man was arrested for possession of marijuana.

“It should be noted that it was not weighed due to the biohazard of it being in (the man’s) pants,” the IMPD officer wrote.

Further processing of the bag would be handled by technicians at a crime lab, police said.

Call Star reporter Bill McCleery at (317) 444-6083. Follow him on Twitter: @BillMcCleery01.