Ever-Vigilant Orlando Cops Use Surveillance Camera to Bust a Pot Smoker

An Orlando TV station reports that police recently used one of the city's IRIS surveillance cameras to bust a pot smoker. After a sergeant monitoring South Terry Avenue and West South Street "spotted three men possibly smoking marijuana," officers approached the men, one of whom, 29-year-old Joe E. Haywood, "turned his back and appeared to put a blunt in his mouth." The cops swiftly took action:

Haywood was handcuffed and ordered to open his mouth but refused, so an officer tried for 30 seconds to use pressure points on his jaw to open his mouth, the affidavit said.  Officers said Haywood swallowed the joint during the incident and marijuana could be smelled on him….

Officers said they then noticed a green leafy substance, which they described as a unburned cannabis leaf, on Haywood's teeth…

Haywood was arrested and taken to jail. 

The charges: possessing 20 grams or less of cannabis, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, plus tampering with physical evidence, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

IRIS, by the way, stands for Innovative Response to Improve Safety. Orlandoans surely feel safer now that a notorious blunt swallower has been taken off the streets.

[Thanks to Richard Cowan for the tip.]