Police Find Fifty Marijuana Plants In Basement Of Home

     A call made to Sandwich police reporting the sounds of gunshots coming from a Forestdale home resulted in the discovery of 50 marijuana plants growing in the basement of the house.
     After finding the plants, police arrested Michael R. Baker, 43, of Anchor Drive, in Forestdale, and him charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and conspiracy to violate the drug laws. 
     An anonymous 911  call reporting gunshots coming from a home on Anchor Drive came into the police station at 12:24 AM Friday. When police arrived at the Anchor Drive house, they found nobody there. 
     According to police reports, while searching the area, police said they heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. A man got out of the car and ran toward police claiming that he lived there.
     He told police that his name was Michael Baker and that his wife had just moved out of the house that day. Officers checked town records, which did not list Mr. Baker as a resident at the home. His license also indicated a different address. After police discovered two guns in Mr. Baker’s vehicle that were registered to a passenger in the car, they made the decision to enter the home. 
     According to Police Chief Michael J. Miller, given the situation at that point, the officers were within their rights to check the house to make sure that there was nobody injured inside. He explained that under certain circumstances, police can enter a home without a search warrant and since the series of events in this case included gunshot reports, a situation involving a divorce, the homeowner missing,  and a man with two guns in his possession, the situation warranted police entering the house to check on the well-being of the owner.
     Chief Miller said once officers entered the house they immediately noticed a strong odor of marijuana. Because of this discovery, police decided to secure a warrant to search the entire premises. The chief said during this search, officers came across a securely locked and bolted door in the basement of the home. Behind the door, officers found a room filled with 50 marijuana plants. “There was growing equipment, such as big lights over the plants and forced carbon dioxide,” Chief Miller said.
     The plants ranged in size from seedlings to three-foot-tall mature plants. He said some of the plants had already been cut up and dried. Some reports tallied the count at 50 plants while other reports indicated nearly 80 plants. “This was quite a grab,” the chief said.
     Because of the size and number of the plants, police had to contact the Department of Public Works to use one of its small dump trucks to haul the evidence out of the home.
     After further investigation, police learned that Mr. Baker did indeed live in the home. He was placed into custody and charged with the crime.
     The total weight of the plants came in at just under 50 pounds. The chief explained that anything over 50 pounds would have triggered a trafficking charge, which carries a higher penalty. The charges that Mr. Baker is facing are all misdemeanors and carry maximum prison time of 2 1/2 years each.
     The chief went on to say that police located the owner of the home, Tracy L. Baker, this week. He said the investigation is still ongoing, and detectives are trying to determine if anybody else may have been involved in the basement garden.