Driver busted for smoking pot in police parking spot

A Great Falls driver was cited Saturday after a patrolman spotted the vehicle’s occupants smoking marijuana while parked in a “police vehicle only” parking spot outside the municipal court building.

Amanda Johnson, whose age was not reported, was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and for driving with a suspended license. Her citation occured shortly after 3:15 am Saturday morning, when a Great Falls police officer spotted Johnson’s car parked near the Municipal Court Judge’s Office.

“The vehicle was running, the Civic Center was obviously closed, and the the vehicle was certainly not an official vehicle that belongs in that place at that time,” the police affidavit states. “I pulled in behind the vehicle and it drove around the circle and then stopped. As the driver’s side window rolled down I could see smoke come from the window.”

The officer reported smelling a strong odor of marijuana as he approached the car, and seeing Johnson waive her hand like a fan “in what appeared to be a futile attempt to dissipate the smoke.”

During questioning, Johnson told the officer that she and her male passenger had been playing Pokemon Go and were “attacking the gym.” Johnson also allegedly admitted that she and her passenger were smoking marijuana, but had “smoked it all gone.”

“She willingly handed me the glass pipe they were smoking from, which was still warm and had burned residue inside,” the police officer’s report states.

An on-scene review of state law enforcement records showed that Johnson’s driver’s license was suspended. Johnson was issued two misdemeanor citations and was told to report to the city court “to explain why she was smoking marijuana outside the Municipal Court Judge’s office.”