Yesterday afternoon around 2:15PM, officers from District E-13 when on patrol in the Egleston Square area traveling on Dixwell Street when they observed a car parked in a handicap parking space in front of 23 Dixwell Street with no handicap placard plate or placard.
Officers stopped and approached the vehicle to issue a citation and as they did so, they observed that the car was occupied by two passengers and that the car was running with keys in the ignition with no operator in the driver’s seat. Officers, upon approaching the car, were told by the two passengers that their friend who was driving the car had “just just run upstairs for a second.” While speaking to the two passengers, officers smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car and alerted each other to their mutual observation. Shortly after making this observation, the operator of the car came running to the car and exclaimed that the car was his and that he would move it and attempted to sit in the driver’s seat.
As officers were conversing with the operator, they observed that he was visibly nervous, wide-eyed and continually looked around while trying to distance himself from the car. A pat frisk of the operator was conducted and a folding knife was recovered from him. Officers removed the other two occupants of the car and asked if there was any marijuana in the car based on the strong smell of marijuana detected by officers. One of the passengers directed officers to his sweater on right rear seat and told them that there was marijuana in the pocket. Officers found marijuana in the passenger’s sweater pocket and further search was made of the car for additional contraband. During further search of the car for contraband, officers located a large plastic bag containing nine (9) individual plastic bags of off white rock-like substance and another plastic bag of green herbal substance believed to be marijuana.
The three suspects, Giovany DeJesus, 26 of Dorchester, Jose H. DeJesus, 23 of Jamaica Plain and Felix Lara, 28 of Roxbury were arrested and charged with Trafficking Class B, within 1,000’, Trafficking Class B, Possession with Intent to Distribute Class B within 1,000’ of a School Zone, and Conspiracy to Violate Drug Laws and cited for Possession of Class D. In addition to the above charges, the operator, Felix Lara was charged with Dangerous Weapon Unlawfully Carried.