Smell Led Maintenance Worker to Closet, Then to the Police

Officials with two local apartment complexes reported to police last week that they thought tenants were involved in the drug trade or use, according to reports on file at the West Des Moines Police Department.

On March 15, a maintenance worker reported to police that he found a small amount of marijuana residue, some plastic bags and a BB gun while he and a co-worker were replacing a towel rack in the master bedroom and a hallway door, Officer Barry Graham reported.

Graham wrote in his report that he could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from the front entrance. When the maintenance worker took him to the master bedroom closet, he reportedly found the marijuana residue.

The incident occurred in the Whisper Ridge Apartments at 9005 Bridgewood Blvd.

On March 12, a manager at Sun Prairie Apartments, 6377 Vista Drive, reported that drugs and paraphernalia had been found in one of the apartments in the complex.

Annual city inspections were being conducted and one of the requirements is that the entire property be inspected. When a locked bedroom door was unlocked, drug paraphernalia and two containers containing marijuana were in plain sight, according to the report.