ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOP IN FRESNO NETS 40 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA

Fresno motorcycle police officer Richard Tucker has been making routine
traffic stops for nine years.

Not Wednesday. That's when Tucker found 40 pounds of marijuana in a 1983
Oldsmobile Cutlass after he stopped the car because the brake lights
weren't working. The driver was arrested on suspicion of transporting
contraband.

"That's the biggest drug bust I have ever made," Tucker said.

He pulled the motorist over on Weldon Avenue near First Street in central
Fresno about 5 p.m. and learned the man had no identification.

Because the driver did not have a driver's license, the motorist was given
a traffic citation and informed that the car had to be impounded, Tucker said.

"After I informed him of his court date and how to get his car out of the
tow yard, he was free to go," Tucker said.

The motorist, looking nervous, accepted the ticket and walked away without
saying a word, Tucker said.

Police procedure mandates that the car be inventoried, so Tucker asked
fellow officers Mike Troehler and Michael Lyon to lend a hand.

Once he opened the trunk, Tucker said he got a strong whiff of marijuana
and discovered 40 one-pound bags of marijuana in a large, black plastic bag.

When he looked for the car's driver, Tucker saw him "moving out, sprinting,
hitting full-stride" down Weldon and turning north on First Street.

The other officers chased the man, who was apprehended without incident at
First Street and Yale Avenue near Radio Park, Tucker said.

He was booked in Fresno County Jail on suspicion of transporting marijuana
and possession of marijuana for sale.

With the drugs seized, Tucker said, he has another task - determining the
motorist's identity. He gave a name, but Tucker's police experience told
him not to believe what he was told.

#372 (c) copyright The Fresno Bee

Checked-by: Pat Dolan