PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Facebook posting by a Republican lawmaker drew attention Saturday to a September 11 traffic stop that resulted in Robert Plain, the editor of the liberal-leaning RIFuture.org, being cited by East Greenwich police for possession of 4 grams of marijuana and failure to wear a seat belt or carry a driver's license.
The police report says Patrolman Patrick J. McCoy initially stopped the 1999 Honda Accord around 6:30 p.m., after spotting the driver go by without a seat belt.
"Upon approaching the vehicle, I smelled a strong odor of fresh marijuana,'' the officer wrote in his report. When he asked Plain for his license and registration, Plain told him "he did not have his wallet on his person.''
The officer said he asked Plain why his vehicle smelled like marijuana, "to which he stated, 'there is weed in my center console,' '' but "Plain stated the marijuana was not his however; it is his girl friend's.''
After an ensuing conversation in which the officer said Plain "began to have a poor attitude,'' the officer said, he took Plain to the East Greenwich police station where he was held, pending a court hearing the next morning, on a bench warrant for failure to appear in court on an earlier charge.
In a brief interview on Saturday, Plain, 39, of 50 Vine St., East Greenwich, said the bench warrant was the result of his confusion about what he had to do about a 2012 speeding ticket.
As for the marijuana, he said: "What the East Greenwich police found in my car belonged to a friend of mine. They are waiting to see her medical marijuana card. When they see that, this will all go away and my right-wing critics will be silenced again.''
His arrest came to light when Rep. Doreen Costa, R-North Kingstown, posted this message on her personal Facebook page: "A reporter who likes to beat up Republicans got arrested.''