Sunday, January 31, 2010

"Are You the Neighbor?"



The slow night was creeping to an anticlimactic end, almost like watching Steven Spielberg’s A.I. for the first time. We moseyed down the roadway on our bikes through the same run-of-the-mill Arizona neighborhood when Freeman caught a short lived whiff of the familiar herbal aroma called marijuana.

The smell peaked our interest as we knew someone nearby was smoking up. Like a couple of vultures circling overhead, we circled the street trying to find the source of the aroma. Our noses lead us strait to an open garage door followed by muffled voices mingled with the sound of clanking tools. Realizing we were at the right place, we stopped and parked our bikes in the driveway of the vacant house next door.

While standing and listening we were overcome with the overwhelming odor of burning weed. We had the joyous option of kicking in the back gate, like some action movie with Steven Segal, or politely poking our heads over the gate and telling them to walk to the front yard. Unfortunately, for safety reasons, we chose the latter.

I walked to the far side of the yard as Freeman poked his helmet covered head over the fence. He shinned his light at the two suspects and said. “Are you guys selling it or is it personal use only?”

“Are you the neighbor?” They intelligently replied.

This time with the proper introduction Freeman said, “This is the Police. Are you selling marijuana or is it person use only?”

Once again they intelligently replied, “It’s for personal use.”

They appeared completely dumbfounded as they awkwardly sauntered into the garage and to the front yard as requested. As they slowly arrived I asked where the rest of the marijuana was at. They younger and apparently smarter one said it was in the house.
As if he did not get the hint they were in a little trouble he asked, “Can I go get it?”

I told him no.

He stood there, surely pondering in his lowered IQ marijuana brain how he was caught, when Freeman spotted the bag of marijuana protruding from his front pocket.

Freeman asked for the marijuana when he replied, “What marijuana?”

We both followed up with an, “Oh Geez!”

“You mean this bag?” he said.

“Yep,” We replied.

The marijuana toting suspect was booked on his new felony charges. As we rode to our patrol car I pondered ------If your going to smoke weed anywhere in Arizona, I suggest not doing it while the Bike Squad and their almost K9 like noses are on duty----- ; )