Eighty marijuana plants were growing in a wooded area off Titus Mill Road in Hopewell Township
By John Tredrea
A Ewing man, who was charged Friday with growing marijuana in a wooded area near the Hopewell Valley Tennis & Fitness Center, also has been charged with possession of marijuana (under 50 grams) and possession of drug paraphernalia in Ewing Township.
On Friday 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. Mr. Owens was remanded to the Mercer County Correction Center, located off Route 29 north of Titusville, where he still was lodged Wednesday, according to police, who said that no additional bail was set for the Ewing charges.
On Friday, 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, each about 6 feet tall, 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 & Fitness Center, where Mr. Owens was working as a maintenance man.
Center owner John Wunder said Wednesday that Mr. Owens no longer has a job at his company.
"The owners and management of the tennis center were unaware of the growing operation and are completely uninvolved," Hopewell Township police Chief George Meyer said Friday.
"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 Ewing residence resulted in the seizure of numerous items of drug paraphernalia (pipes and a scale). Additional charges involving those items have been filed in Ewing Township by the Hopewell Township police.
Lt. Tom Puskas said Tuesday that Mr. Owens has been charged with possession of marijuana (under 50 grams) and possession of drug paraphernalia in Ewing Township. These charges have been forwarded to the Mercer County prosecutor’s office as a companion case to the original charge filed in Hopewell Township on Friday.
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 Friday. Police had no additional information about these cases Tuesday.
Township Detective Kevin Zorn also is involved in these investigations.
Ruth Luse, managing editor, contributed to this account.

