Drug Sniffing Dog Misses Possible Pot Pipe

A 21-year-old Frankfort man was cited for drug equipment and paraphernalia offenses after a police officer found a multicolored pipe with evidence of burnt cannabis apparently missed by a specially trained, drug sniffing canine during interior car search, reports said.

An officer noticed a 2002 Ranger pickup approaching him that did not have a functioning driver’s side headlight near 160th and LaGrange Avenue around 10:59 p.m. Feb. 26.

Police pulled the car over at a fast food restaurant in the 9400 block of West 159th Street. The officer spoke to the driver, later identified as Tyler J. Tubbs, 21. Tyler had a freshly lit cigar in his mouth and appeared nervous, the officer said.

Asked if he had ever been arrested before, Tubbs allegedly replied he had not. The officer said he was going to issue Tubbs a written warning for a headlight violation.

When the officer ran the man’s driver’s license, he found out that Tyler had lied about being arrested before, who was arrested on a 2013 traffic offense, reports said.

Tubbs later explained that he had failed to mention the traffic offense because he believed it was his past, reports said.

The officer then asked for permission to search Tubbs’ car, who initially said no, police said. The officer deployed K9 Harry, a police canine trained to detect the odor of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, to sniff the exterior of Tubbs car.

Tubbs and his passenger were asked to step out of the car, while K9 Harry sniffed the externior. Police said that Tubbs believed there was a pipe and grinder inside the car.

The police canine completed sniffing both the exterior and interior of the Ranger without alerting to the presence of drugs, the report said.

The officer searched the inside of the car and found a multicolored pipe containing burnt cannabis residue in the center console, police said. The officer could not find the grinder.

Tubbs said the grinder apparently was not in the car, because it also would have been in the center console, according to the report.

Police said that Tubbs signed a citation for the glass pipe and has hearing on April 8 at the Orland Park Civic Center.