Police Detect Drugs in Ex-D.C. Mayor’s Car

U.S. Park Police, using a preliminary field test, found apparent traces of marijuana and cocaine in former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry’s car while he was parked in a remote part of southwest Washington, authorities said this weekend.

No arrest was made in the incident, which began about 9 p.m. Thursday as Barry sat in a Jaguar, which he told police was his. The amounts of drugs allegedly detected in a police field test were described as too small to support a prosecution.

Barry’s attorney, Fred Cooke Jr., said Saturday night that Barry “denies being in the possession of any illegal drugs.”

He said Barry--who could not be reached for comment--consented to the search because “he didn’t have anything to hide.” Cooke said that, in Barry’s view, the search confirmed that nothing illegal was found.

Cooke also said that many things yield a positive result in the field test for drugs, which is why it is generally only a precursor to laboratory testing. For example, residue picked up on shoes could adhere to the floor of a car, he said.

Barry, 66, was convicted of a misdemeanor count of cocaine possession after being arrested in 1990 in a downtown Washington hotel. He subsequently has said on many occasions that he is drug- and alcohol-free, and he recently announced that he would seek to return to public life by running for an at-large council seat this year.

Sgt. Scott Fear, a Park Police spokesman, said the Thursday encounter began when an officer responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle in a no-parking zone.

After the officer walked toward the parked car, he saw that the occupant appeared to be “ingesting something,” Fear said.

The officer noticed a “powdery substance” under Barry’s nose, according to Fear’s account. A supervisor was notified, and police asked that a dog trained to detect drugs be brought to the scene.

He said that the dog “alerted,” or “hit positive,” on something in the car, indicating that it had probably detected illicit materials.

A field test was done on the interior of the car, and it indicated positive for “residues” of marijuana and cocaine, Fear said.

The exact amount of suspect materials was not specified. But Fear said it was deemed so small that police did not make an arrest.

No test was made of the powder reportedly observed under Barry’s nose, Fear said.

He added that the procedures followed by police in the incident would have been used in an encounter with any other person.

In announcing March 6 that he planned to run for the D.C. Council, Barry said he hoped to return to “my calling” of public office.