Special to The Community News
Five area teenagers were detained by Parker County sheriff’s deputies Saturday morning, Jan. 13 after deputies seized alcohol and marijuana from the vehicle they occupied.

According to a sheriff’s report, Aledo Deputy K. Lanham observed all five of the youths sitting in a pick up behind the Stuard Elementary School in the 200 block of Thunderhead Lane shortly after midnight. Lanham said he noticed them moving around inside the cab, and appeared to be concealing contraband upon his approach. One of the teens reportedly admitted they were hiding beer. The Deputy observed a number of unopened beer cans under the seats of the truck and on the floorboard and noticed the odor of marijuana inside the cab.

As back up deputies arrived to assist in the investigation, the teens exited the vehicle when one of the youths apparently attempted to discard a suspected marijuana pipe on the ground, which caught the Deputies’ attention. A search of the vehicle console revealed a small baggie containing suspected marijuana.

A search of a second vehicle, a small sedan parked at the location, revealed a backpack containing three separate baggies of suspected marijuana, digital scales and a box of sandwich bags. Deputies said both vehicles contained debris from the marijuana.

During the investigation a 16 year-old Fort Worth teen admitted ownership of the backpack found in the sedan. He was detained for Delinquent Conduct, Possession of Marijuana in a Drug Free Zone and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

All five teens were ticketed for Minor in Possession of Alcohol and were released to their parents at the scene pending further investigation. The teens’ ages ranged from 16-17 years of age, three from Aledo and two from Fort Worth, Parker County.

The four packages of marijuana had an aggregate weight of about one ounce. Sheriff Larry Fowler said that juvenile investigators would present the case to the district attorney and juvenile probation after interviews were completed with the teens.