What Doesn't Smell Like Gum That Got West Des Moines Teens Busted?

What was that smell coming from the car a group of 16-year-olds were driving around town last weekend?

“It’s probably my gum,” one of the teens said.

You’re reaching – or words to that effect – said Officer Chris Morgan, who stopped the teens’ Subaru Forester after noticing a headlight was burned out about 10:30 Friday.

Wait, hold on. Maybe this dog will hunt.

Ever offer a lame excuse for something you knew you were going to be held accountable for in the end? What was it?

“There’s a burned floor mat in the back and that’s probably it,” one of the guys said.

That’s it – the charred remains of a floor mat. You bet. Morgan wasn't buying it.

“I told him I knew it was marijuana," the police officer told the kids, "and I was going to search the vehicle."

He did, finding 4 grams of marijuana under the driver’s seat. Busted.

The driver reportedly told the police officer the pot wasn’t his, he didn’t smoke any of it and he was “just in the car.”

“I advised him that I located the marijuana under his seat,” Morgan wrote in his report. “He pointed to his friend and said, ‘That’s because he handed it to me as we were getting stopped'.”

“Be quiet,” the kid on the other end of the finger reportedly said.

The three teens – two from West Des Moines and one from Clive – were charged with drug possession and released to the custody of their parents.