The car that smashed into a wall in Riverside Park after a wild chase through the park Tuesday held six pounds of marijuana, a source told Geoffrey Croft of A Walk in the Park blog. The passenger in the vehicle was taken into custody, and is being held on an outstanding warrant, according to the blog.
Raul Visla-Almovar, 27, was taken into custody and taken to St. Luke’s Hospital where he is being treated for a hip injury.
He is being held on an outstanding warrant from NJ. Charges are pending from Tuesday’s incident.
Police are canvassing area hospitals to see if the driver turns up.
Photo of the aftermath of the crash by Joy Bergmann.
Brilliant move. Run a red light with 6 pounds of Weed in the car. These 2 just won the Darwin award for the year.
Six pounds is ‘packed with’???
Headlines.
I’m not a pot user, but it’s crazy that marijuana is still criminalized while alcohol (far more destructive) is legal. Just think, with legalization, we wouldn’t have had this wild car chase that endangered so many innocent bystanders as well as the cops and the perpetrators.
Amen to that!
don’t mess with my pinot!
This just in from sources close to the situation who declined to be identified – the driver didn’t inhale…
In principle, pot should be legal. My main concern is the annoyance of the smell of the smoke. All smoking indoors (tobacco or marijuana) should be prohibited indoors. I don’t want the smell of either in my apartment.
Since second-hand cigarette smoke can cause cancer, I wonder whether second-hand smoke from pot can make a neighbor high.
‘Contact highs’ are highly overrated…
Cooking with lots of garlic too. Not to mention stewed chicken. We shouldn’t stand for it.
The additional problem with smoke is that (beside to your lungs) it gets into your clothes and your hair, and you can end up carrying the odor with you all day. It also gets into closets, curtains, upholstery and other fabrics. It can be quite costly to remove, if it is at all removable. Even with a washable bedspread, for instance, the cost is not insignificant; each time it is washed, the fabric gets thinner; additionally, the color fades.
I knew someone who bought the cottage of a smoker. Before the walls could be painted, they had to be completely washed with bleach.
Duuude
OH Rats! This is really going to make it more expensive for all of us. We just lost a lot of potential supply for the UWS
Endangering the lives of park-goers and bystanders in chase of weed. Not really what I call protecting the public. If someone else had been injured or killed this whole thing would have looked very different.
Did the police know what was in the car before the chase?
What is the NJ warrant for?
The driver that escaped. Will it turn out that he has outstanding warrants also?
I’d like to police to explain what they were thinking. It is unlikely they even knew about the marijuana. The likely scenario is someone ran a red light, they tried to pull them over, and the car fled. We would all assume at that point that the driver is guilty of something but that doesn’t justify the chase through a park. Would anything?
Seriously? NYPD risked the lives of a thousand people in the park for something that is legal in several states? I’m pretty sure that is a violation of their pursuit policy.
The NYPD has ruined thousands of young lives during the stop-and-frisk activities. “You’re not the mugger we were looking for, but we’ll bust you anyway because you were dumb enough to take that 1/4 Z out of your pocket and we can nail you for ‘public display of a controlled substance’. This is going to look great on our arrest record!”
I’m a bit split on the legalization movement, but I strongly feel that having marijuana classified as a Schedule I drug (worst class), compared to cocaine and crack as Schedule II drugs, is unfair and adds a tremendous load to our court and prison systems. Crackheads do crazy stuff; stoners just sit on their couch, watch TV, and eat munchies. (Usually, and in this case, the dealers are the problem due to the quantity they were moving.)
Marijuana is classed as worse than cocaine and crack?! Really?!
Yes, really. Shit’s fucked yo
I am sure the police were not chasing them because they suspected that they had weed. Finding the weed was a coincidence. But for goodness sake, if you have something to hide, drive the speed limit in the most generic looking car possible.
Legalizing marijuana is a great idea if:
1. You give up your driver’s license. We know the bodies ability to process alcohol but we do not know MJ…let’s be safe and ensure you don’t drive
2. You are banned from any job that involves public safety (construction, drivers, machine operators, pilots). Can’t possibly be under the influence and be a danger
3. Give up all health claims. We know smoking is bad and we are trying to eradicate it. Why would we want to pick up your medical bills b/c you wanted to get high for ten years.
medical marijuana is fine but we are setting ourselves up for abuses if legalized.
Re: “The car … held six pounds of marijuana,”
DANG !!What a shame that it DIDN’T catch fire!
“Imagine”, (to quote Lennon … and maybe Lenin too) six pounds of weed burning !
The entire UWS would’ve been like something out of a Cheech & Chong flick !
We’d all have been blissed out, even the Professional Kvetchers.
Damn shame (NB: NOT to be confused with a Female Impersonator, a.k.a. a “sham dame” !
Peace, y’all !
Hey anon—the cops chased them because just maybe they just killed your entire family and are fleeing????think about it you dope—-RET COP