51 Pounds of Marijuana Seized by Worcester Police

Friday, April 29, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Worcester Police discovered 51 pounds of marijuana upon the arrest of a suspicious person on Wednesday, April 27.

The suspicious person was identified as Mark Gentile, 55, of Worcester. Gentile was charged with disturbing the peace and trespassing as well as trafficking in class D substance between 50-99 pounds.

The Incident

Worcester Police were checking on an open door to a vacant house on 487 Granite Street at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday when the officers were approached by two citizens complaining of a suspicious male in their yard.

The second citizen stated that they yelled out to the male to leave their property but the male then became vulgar and threatened him.

The Search

Officers proceeded to search the wooded area near route 20 and could hear someone in the woods. As police searched further, they came across a male crouching behind two suit cases, manipulating the contents in one of them.

One officer yelled to the man to show his hands and to walk towards him. The man walked towards the officer but did not show his hands, placing them in his pants pocket. The officer then fears that the male might have a weapon and displayed his taser and instructed the man to show his hands once again. The man complied.

As the man approached, he began to yell loudly at the officer, causing traffic on Rt. 20 to slow down to a crawl.

The Arrest

Officers identified the man as Mark Gentile, 55, of Worcester and placed him under arrest and charged him with disturbing the peace and trespassing.

When officers asked Gentile if he owned the suitcases, he stated that he did not. Upon the officers searching him, small pieces of marijuana fell out of his pockets.

Gentile was removed from the scene and officers went back to the suitcases.

The first suitcase was partially open and the officers could detect a strong odor of marijuana. Officers observed multiple individual wrapped bags of marijuana inside the suitcase. Next to the two suitcases was another duffle bag, also with a strong odor of marijuana.

The total amount of recovered marijuana was approximately 51 pounds.

Gentile was arraigned on Thursday at the Worcester County District Courthouse.