423 marijuana plants found growing in yard

BY KEN KOSKY
kkosky@nwitimes.com
219.462.5151 | Wednesday, July 13, 2005

PORTAGE | If the hundreds of large plants growing in 20-year-old Joshua Frazier's yard had been vegetable plants, there would have been enough food to feed a village.

But police said the 423 plants growing in the back yard of Frazier's home at 1938 Hamilton St. in Portage were actually marijuana.

A tip led to the confiscation of the all the plants July 1, and now Frazier has been charged with possession of marijuana. He faces up to three years behind bars if convicted.

Indiana State Police Detective Thomas Devries stated in court documents filed last week that the Porter County Drug Task Force received an anonymous complaint that Frazier was growing marijuana. Devries and Trooper Jason Sample looked over a chest-high fence and saw a large quantity of plants, according to court documents.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers said they pulled up 423 plants and took them to the Lowell post, where a sampling of the plants tested positive for marijuana.

Times archives show Frazier has been arrested six times in the past two years, twice on marijuana possession charges.

Anyone with tips about drug activity can call the Porter County Drug Task Force at (219) 465-3629.