Smoke leads cops to pot

01:26 Smoke leads cops to pot 0 Comments

Police soon discovered that where there was smoke, there was marijuana and hashish being made ready for sale at the scene of a small house fire at 16 Springwood Drive.

Edward M. Phipps, 21, who lives in a basement room at the address, has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of Class THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and possession of hashish after police and firefighters were called to the house for a reported fire on Sunday.

Phipps was arraigned Monday in Brockton District Court and posted $1,500 cash bail.

The date of his next court appearance was not available.

Abington Police Sgt. Kevin F. Sullivan, in his incident report, said he responded to a report of a possible house fire at 16 Springwood Drive at 8:51 p.m. Sunday and found several occupants standing on the front lawn when he arrived.

There was also a strong odor of smoke, he said. Abington firefighters used portable fans to ventilate the house.

Abington Fire Chief John Nuttall informed the officer that the fire was confined to a small room in the cellar.

The officer then went down into the cellar and in the room he saw a chair and an area of ceiling above damaged by fire. He then saw a butane lighter on the floor at the origin of the fire.

As he continued looking around the room, Sullivan saw a glass mason jar filled with a green “vegetable-like substance” that appeared to be marijuana.

He also saw small grinders embedded with the same leafy substance and a small glass jar with a “brown vegetable-like substance” that appeared to be hashish.

The officer also saw in plain view a small glass jar that contained hash oil.

Inside the room there were several other items “consistent” with the packaging and distribution of marijuana.

Sullivan also found a “very large” plastic bag filled with marijuana, he said in the report.