Crime Blotter: Driving, Talking, Going to Jail

— -- Double Trouble

P L A T T S B U R G H, N.Y. — Turn for the worse? Bad call? You can take your pick with Gilles Mercier, it seems.

Mercier, 52, was pulled over in Plattsburgh, N.Y., last Tuesday, May 13, by Officer Scott Chase. Chase had spotted him making an illegal turn and driving while using a cell phone, which is illegal in New York State.

When he was issuing the citation, Chase smelled a strong odor of coffee grounds, which seemed suspicious to him.

"The guy consented to have the vehicle searched and they found 105 pounds of marijuana," said Plattsburgh Police Chief Desmond Racicot. The drugs, with an estimated street value of $525,000, were packed in plastic bags inside cardboard boxes. Police say coffee grounds are sometimes used to mask the smell of hydroponically grown marijuana.

Mercier faces a federal charge of possessing marijuana with intent to sell.

In Hot Water

S L I D E L L, La. — John Meyers and Brenda Orme wanted to join the "Mile-High Club," but police say they only got 215 feet off the ground.

Apparently in a romantic and daring mood, Meyers, 44, and Orme, 45, climbed a water tower in Slidell, La., late last Friday night.

Police say Meyers told them that they wanted to have sex "on top of the world."

But Slidell police got an anonymous complaint about noise and shouting atop the 215-foot tall tower, and responding officers eventually arrested the pair.

Sgt. Mark Michaud and Officer George Skinner used their squad car's PA system to coax Meyers and Orme down.

"It is unknown whether or not the couple completed their mission," police noted in a statement about the incident.

"I guess this is the poor man's version of the 'mile-high club,'" said Slidell Police Chief Freddy Drennan.

They were each charged with criminal trespassing and disturbing the peace by being intoxicated in public. Meyers, who was employed as a contractor hired to paint the tower, was also charged with criminal negligence.

As of Tuesday, neither had posted bail, and police say Meyers' foreman had fired him. His co-workers told authorities that he had often bragged that he was the "blond Adonis" of the painting crew.