Police briefs

Date published: 7/14/2006

Where there's smoke, there's a marijuana plot

Police say a man's effort to destroy a marijuana plot before authorities could find it went up in smoke this week.

After seeing a helicopter flying overhead, the man set fire to the field. When the Air National Guard pilot saw the smoke, he alerted members of the Blue Ridge Drug Task Force on the ground.

Within minutes, William Ernest Grant was under arrest, Culpeper County Sheriff Lee Hart said. Grant was charged with manufacturing marijuana and destroying evidence, Hart said.

About 30 charred plants were recovered from a small plot on Grant's property on York Road, Hart said. The plot was encircled by a small section of woods.

The arrest was part of an eradication effort under the governor's initiative against narcotics trafficking.

The air search also helped detect another larger marijuana patch at an undisclosed location in the northern part of the county, Hart said. About 90 plants were seized there but no arrests had been made yesterday.

Hart estimated the street value of Wednesday's total haul to be about $132,000.

Man faces DUI charge after crash into building

A Culpeper man was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after his pickup ran a red light, struck another car and crashed into the Second Bank & Trust building early yesterday.

According to Sgt. J.C. Welch, the accident occurred about 1:30 a.m. when a Dodge pickup headed west on Davis Street ran the red light at Main Street. The Dodge struck a Ford Explorer driven by an unidentified Spotsylvania County woman and careened into the bank building, Welch said.

Mickey Brown, 33, was charged with DUI, refusing to take a breath test and failing to stop for a red light.

The driver of the Explorer was treated at Culpeper Regional Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Welch said.

Police estimated damage at $10,000 to the Dodge, $5,000 to the Ford Explorer and several hundred dollars to the bank.

--Donnie Johnston

Date published: 7/14/2006