Search warrant results in arrest and seizure of 807 grams of marijuana.
Members of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team assisted the Multi-Agency Criminal Enforcement (MACE) unit in serving a search warrant at a residence in the 3800 block of 44th Place in Vero Beach on July 7, 2015.
At around 9:45 AM, SWAT team members approached a home occupied by Clinton Pottinger, 57, to serve a search warrant based on an ongoing narcotics investigation being conducted by MACE. When Pottinger saw deputies approaching his home, he fled on foot out the back door and through a hole in his neighbor’s fence. He then attempted to scale another portion of fence but was apprehended by deputies.
Detectives found Pottinger had dropped a grocery bag while fleeing. The bag was found to contain 117 grams of marijuana. Additionally, a black canvas bag which contained 690 grams of marijuana was recovered along the path Pottinger had taken while running from law enforcement officers. The marijuana in this bag was sorted into smaller packages, 1/2 to 1 ounce, in what was obvious to detectives as a precursor to selling the illegal drug.
Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar stated, “We are pleased to have gotten this quantity of drugs off the street. It was clear that Pottinger intended to sell the marijuana and we want it to be clear to other drug dealers that we will not tolerate this type of activity and the danger it brings to Indian River County.”
Pottinger was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana over 20 grams, and resisting an officer without violence. He was booked into the county jail and subsequently released on $18,000 bond.
