Driver arrested on pot charges

DOWNTOWN — A Pasadena man is scheduled to be arraigned today on charges that he had 13 grams of marijuana in his possession inside a vehicle that allegedly struck two pedestrians in a downtown alley, police said.

Eugene Milton, 19, and a group of friends were arrested Friday after their vehicle hit the pedestrians in the alley to the rear of In-N-Out Burger on the 100 block of Brand Boulevard, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

The pedestrians complained of pain, but refused medical treatment, he added.

Police were speaking with the driver, 19-year-old Johnny Nadzharyan, when they reported smelling the strong odor of marijuana from inside the vehicle.

After some questions, Milton allegedly told the officers he had 13 grams of marijuana he had purchased with a medicinal marijuana prescription from a location in Pasadena he reportedly refused to identify.

The driver allegedly told police a different story, saying he picked up Milton in Hollywood, but didn’t pay attention to what was being done with the marijuana because he was driving, according to police reports.

Either way, the dozens of pot clinics surrounding Glendale — where they’re not allowed — has been a law enforcement issue, Lorenz said, especially with people using prescription cards to sell their marijuana on local streets.

“The proliferation of these medicinal marijuana facilities in the communities that surround Glendale has been a problem,” he said, adding that while not all prescription holders abuse their rights, “too often, this is repeated and repeated again.”

During a search of Milton’s backpack, police allegedly found two large prescription bottles that contained small individual packages of marijuana, according to police reports. Officers also discovered a scale, a large empty plastic bag and a marijuana pipe, they reported.

Officers eventually arrested Milton on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale.