A 21-year-old man found with two other people and the odor of burnt marijuana wafting about them, was charged with selling the illegal drug after a police dog indicated there was pot in the man’s car and cops found it, police said.
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Editor’s note: This article was revised after police answered several questions about details of the incident.
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Darien police gave this account of the incident, including accusations not proven in court:
On Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 8:23 p.m., an officer on patrol saw a 1992 Nissan Stanza parked in the Woodland Park lot at the Middlesex Road entrance to the park after dusk (the park’s closing time).
When the officer spoke with three men sitting on a bench (two of them 21 years old; the other, 19) he smelled burnt marijuana. The three admitted that they had just finished smoking marijuana. Police searched them and found they didn’t have any on them at the time.
Officers then spoke with a man and a woman, both 21 years old, in the Nissan, and again, the smell of burnt marijuana was in the air. Police K9 Argo was taken to the car, where the dog conducted a “free air sniff” outside it and alerted police that narcotics were present.
Police searched the car and found a bag containing 19 grams of marijuana. Police also found a scale, rubber bands and empty, clear plastic bags.
“These items, in combination, are typically indicative of the sale of marijuana,” said the police announcement, released Monday morning.
The vehicle’s driver, Oliva Jonathan, 21, of Stamford admitted that the bag of marijuana was his.
Jonathan was charged with possession of marijuana and sale of marijuana. He was arrested, taken to Police Headquarters, then released on a promise to appear Sept. 15 in state Superior Court in Stamford.