Ewing man charged with growing marijuana in Hopewell Township

Eighty healthy plants found in woods off Titus Mill Road

By John Tredrea
   This morning at 9 a.m., Hopewell Township police charged Glenn Owens, 51, of Llanfair Lane, Ewing Township, with cultivating marijuana — a first-degree offense.
   Bail was set at $250,000 and Mr. Owens was remanded to the Mercer County Correction Center, located off Route 29 north of Titusville.
   Officer Vincent Amabile, working with members of the New Jersey State Police Marijuana Eradication Task Force and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Unit, seized 80 marijuana plants that were growing in a wooded area off Titus Mill Road in Hopewell Township.
   The property where the marijuana was growing is owned by the Hopewell Valley Tennis Center where Mr. Owens is employed as a maintenance man. "The owners and management of the tennis center were unaware of the growing operation and are completely uninvolved," said Hopewell Township police Chief George Meyer.
   "The plants were very well cared for," the chief noted. "They were approximately 6 feet tall at the time and would have grown to a height of 12 feet at maturity. The street value of the marijuana seized is estimated at $160,000," he said.
   A subsequent search of Mr. Owen’s residence resulted in the seizure of numerous items of drug paraphernalia (pipes and a scale). According to the chief, additional charges involving those items will be filed in Ewing Township by the Hopewell Township police. Lt. Tom Puskas was unable to say when township police will file those changes.
   Officer Amabile and members of the Marijuana Eradication Task Force and the Special Investigations Unit also seized 18 other marijuana plants growing at two other locations in Hopewell Township. No charges have been filed in those cases.
   "The investigation into who was cultivating them is ongoing," Chief Meyer said this afternoon.
   Township Detective Kevin Zorn also is involved in these investigations.