This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
New Orleans • Police say a passenger in a car pulled over in a pre-hurricane traffic stop asked an officer to go find the bag of marijuana he dropped at a nearby levee, resulting in his arrest.
Eighteen-year-old driver Chad Nicholson of Reserve and Jason Ray Sr., 21, of LaPlace, were booked on charges including marijuana possession, The Times-Picayune reported.
Kenner Police said the car smelled of marijuana when an officer stopped it Aug. 27 near businesses that closed ahead of Hurricane Isaac, and Nicholson didn't have a driver's license or valid vehicle registration sticker.
Nicholson allegedly said he and Ray had smoked marijuana and there was more, but he didn't know where.
Ray, whom the officer had seen leave the car briefly near a levee, allegedly said there was about an ounce under a seat. When none was found in the car, he allegedly said, "''I hope it didn't fall out of my lap when I got out (of) the car by the levee. Can you go get my weed?"
Arrest reports say the officer found a bag holding almost an ounce of marijuana right where Ray said it would be.
Both men were booked Aug. 28 in Gretna with possessing marijuana and possession of the drug with intent to distribute it. Ray also was booked with possessing drug paraphernalia and Nicholson with driving without a license and with an expired tag. Both were released on $5,000 bond.