Boy Aids in Arrest; School Drug Program Cited

Last year, when National City police officers began teaching the DARE program in schools, they expressed simple hopes for the acclaimed drug-use prevention class: help a few youngsters say no to drugs.

But on Thursday afternoon, the officers’ wildest expectations for the program were surpassed when a 9-year-old boy, enrolled in a Drug Abuse Resistance Educationclass at Central Elementary, helped arrest a man in possession of what appeared to be methamphetamine.

Jorge Benitez, 19, of San Diego was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, possession for sale, transportation of a controlled substance and being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.

The boy was running an errand for his mother, police said, when he walked through a carwash and saw Benitez, sitting in a pickup truck, using a razor blade to line up white powder across a mirror.

“He went over to a pay phone and called us on 911 and told us he was a DARE student,” said Officer David Grande, who arrested Benitez. “He gave us the license plate number and a description of the truck and said he would stay there until we came over. I was surprised and impressed.”

When Grande arrived at the carwash at 234 Highland Ave. shortly after 4 p.m., he found Benitez. A search of the pickup truck uncovered 0.25 of a gram of methamphetamine.

The boy will receive a commendation from Police Chief Stan Knee.

“Not too many people want to get involved. . . . Sure, occasionally someone may make a call, but then they leave and want no part of it,” Grande said. “But this young boy knew that what the man was doing was wrong and he wanted to make sure he got arrested.