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The 16-year-old Cresskill High School student was at the UNICO Carnival when Arran Pope, 18, of Mastic Beach on Long Island told him he had three ounces of marijuana for sale if he was interested, Detective Charles Franke told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
The local teen “said he’d meet him there the next day,” Franke said.
Instead, the youth told Cresskill Detective John Birnie, who works closely with borough schoolchildren.
On Friday afternoon, the undercover officer from Tenafly went to Pope’s stand at the annual carnival, held in the Cresskill Pool parking area to raise money for local scholarships and other worthy causes, and began playing the game.
“It worked,” Franke said.
Detectives from Cresskill and Tenafly watched as Pope solicited the officer and then met him away from the main area, the detective said. The sale was made and backups moved in and took him into custody, he said.
Pope was charged with marijuana distribution in a school zone.
Police intend to formally thank the teen who tipped them off, Franke said.
“It was the right thing to do,” he said.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy CRESSKILL PD
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