Wednesday's Internet Edition, September 08, 2010.
pot when cops
knock on door
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Police made three arrests on felony drug charges last week, including a convicted felon allegedly growing marijuana at his home.
Police also found a stash of pot while looking for stolen items and, in another case, officers who went to arrest a suspect on other charges ended up arresting his stepfather when he answered the door with a smoldering marijuana pipe in his pocket.
Roane Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew “Bo” Williams said police were acting on a tip when they paid a visit to a home at 1133 Slab Fork Rd. Friday night.
When they arrived, Williams said officers found more than a dozen marijuana plants, some about four feet tall, growing on the creek bank near the home.
Williams said the homeowner, James Ratliff, 65, admitted the plants were his and allowed officers including Deputy Mike King and State Troopers J.M. Bragg and P.S. Fisher of the Spencer detachment to search the home.
Williams said they found 26 rifles and pistols, a small bag of marijuana and some prescription pills not in their original containers.
Williams said Ratliff is a convicted felon, stemming from a rape charge, and not allowed to have firearms. He was charged with cultivating marijuana and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
He was arraigned by Roane Magistrate Jason Bennett and lodged in the Central Regional Jail in lieu of $20,000 bond. He was released on bond Monday and is awaiting a preliminary hearing.
In an unrelated case, police searching for evidence in a break-in discovered marijuana and drug paraphernalia in a Spencer home.
Patrolman John Westfall of the Spencer Police Dept. obtained a search warrant for the Matthew James Grether residence at 102 Ernest St. to look for swords allegedly stolen from a Spencer consignment shop.
Grether was one of three men arrested recently on the roof of the building where the shop is located. When officers visited the home, also the residence of Timothy Daniel Parkin, 24, they allegedly found several bags of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a Marlin rifle. Also participating in the search were Lt. Clint Wilson and Sgt. John Caldwell of the Spencer Police Dept., Deputies King and Williams and Troopers Bragg and Fisher and Sgt. B.S. Snodgrass.
Grether remains in jail in lieu of bond on the earlier charges, but Parkin was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and also being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The charge says Parkin was convicted on a drug charge in Washington County, Ohio.
He was lodged in the Central Regional Jail last Wednesday and released the following day on $20,000 bond set by Magistrate Bennett.
In another case, State Police who went to a home near the Kanawha County line with an arrest warrant ended up arresting the suspect’s stepfather after they found him smoking marijuana.
Trooper Bragg said when he and Fisher went to the residence at 833 Gabe Rd. on June 23, they smelled the odor of burning marijuana.
When they asked Raymond Wayne Eakin, 49, if he had been smoking marijuana, he allegedly said yes and pulled a marijuana pipe out of his pocket. Officers then allegedly found 23 grams of marijuana and another pipe on a kitchen table.
Eakin was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and released the next day on $10,000 bond set by Bennett.
