Cops chase drunken fool straight to his illegal marijuana operation
In a spectacular illustration of what NOT to do when confronted by law enforcement while driving home from the local tavern in the middle of the night, 23-year-old Charles Byrd drunkenly fled police officers who witnessed him break numerous traffic laws in Gwinnett County, Ga.
His choice of hideout? His totally illegal marijuana grow house, where there were 69 plants, 3.2 pounds of manicured pot and his none-too-amused partner in crime, 25-year-old Timothy Donahue. At most, Byrd faced a DUI and a few traffic citations for driving with his lights off, making an illegal turn and having expired license tags. Now, he and his buddy face serious jail time. Georgia does not have medical marijuana laws, leaving the pair with no defense whatsoever for possession of any amount of marijuana for any reason at all -- the pot was said to be worth about $327,000. That's an expensive bar tab.
Rather than pull over for police after a night of drinking, Byrd led them on a pursuit to a home in an unincorporated area of the county, ran inside and locked the door. The police called for backup and surrounded the house. Byrd surrendered, but the smell of 69 cannabis plants was to much for the fuzz to overlook, giving them the probable cause they needed for a search warrant. Donahue was found hiding in the house, presumably cursing his choice of business partner.
One moral that can be gleaned from this tale is that alcohol perhaps makes you stupider than marijuana.
