Sorry, Grandpa: Marijuana in Newton fire chief's car belonged to grandson, police say
The marijuana discovered last week by firefighters in Newton Fire Chief John LaCroix's city-issued car belonged to his grandson and was mistakenly put in the vehicle by his wife, Marlborough police said today.
Sean LaCroix, 19, who lives with his grandparents in Marlborough, admitted to police that he owned the drugs, Marlborough police captain Paul Valianti said. Police will determine whether to file charges this week.
"It's extremely clear as to whose marijuana it was," said Valianti, adding that it was an "extremely small amount" of marijuana.
The drugs fell out of Sean LaCroix's pocket on Wednesday night inside the LaCroix home, Valianti said.
LaCroix's wife found the drugs, and they decided to put the drugs in her car with the intention of taking it to the police station the following day, Valianti said. LaCroix's wife mistakenly placed the marijuana in the the fire chief's car without his knowledge, he said.
Firefighters doing a "routine" cleaning of the chief's car on Thursday discovered the drugs under the driver's seat and alerted LaCroix, who then went to city hall and informed officials there, city spokesman Jeremy Solomon has said.
After hearing LaCroix's explanation, officials from the city's human resources, legal and executive department advised the chief to go to his hometown police station.
In a written statement on Friday, LaCroix said, "The discovery came as a shock to me...I have never imperiled the safety of Newton firefighters or the general public by using or possessing illegal drugs."
Solomon said today that the 62-year-old LaCroix voluntarily took a drug test at a hospital nearby to "eliminate any question about his fitness for duty." The drug test, however, was "not at the city's behest or recommendation," Solomon said.
-- Rachana Rathi
Another question should be why does he even have a car issued by the Town of Newton when he lives far away in Marlboro.
I wonder who is paying his gas bills to and from work..hmmmm
She put the marijuana in the wrong car? Are they identical? And under the driver's seat? Yea, that's a common place to put marijuana when you plan on bringing it to the police station.
why the hell didn't she just flush it??
See no one at all is perfect and I think its great that is is the grandson of an authority.
Automatically the society says its the upbringing of a child that makes them go off but it is not so get it thru the heads out there.
This is nonsense. If drugs were found in a car belonging to anyone one of us "regular" people, we would be up on charges period. This is Massachusetts Police/Fire department taken care of their own.
Well, that's a relief. What a catastrophe it would be to learn that a fire chief enjoyed some herb in his free time.
It's 2008. Can we stop acting like anybody who smokes pot is some sort of threat to society?
"LaCroix's wife found the drugs, and they decided to put the drugs in her car with the intention of taking it to the police station the following day, Valianti said. LaCroix's wife mistakenly placed the marijuana in the the fire chief's car without his knowledge, he said."
Umm, just wondering -- how does Grandman mistake her car for the chief's? Does she also have a red car with li'l sirens on top?
Wow seemed like a pretty simple solution, take a drug test and eliminate suspicion.........I guess I`m missing firefighters across the board cannot follow suit.
Yeah right. As if any law biding non public servant could get away with this one. It's my grandson's? What if it is, it's still in his 'possession' which is 9/10th of the law.
Typical - it's all who you know.
Are you kidding blame the kid. Mistakenly placed it in the car. No way. He just does not want to lose his benefits. Just like clemens and bonds misremember taking steriods this stoner misplaced his drugs and now is using his own family to escape. Deval please step in and rid Mass of low life Fire man and Cops who abuse the badge. Higher tolls, higher taxes, extremely high state salaries its no wonder Mass is becoming a sh** hole.
What were the firefighters doing cleaning the chief's car anyhow? If his grandson had a chance to get some weed into it, it was obviously not solely for official use.
It looks like the grandson took the fall for grandpa's love of toking up! This story sounds way too far fetched.
What happened to cuff him, stuff him and the courts decide?
I thought the firefighters were a band of brothers who stood together. Wonder who actually found the drugs and if they turned in the full amount to town hall
WHY DID HIS OWN MEN NARC ON HIM AND RAT HIM OUT TO THE AUTHORITIES AND THE PRESS???? THESE BACKSTABBING COWARDS WOULD "HAVE MY BACK" IN A BURNING BUILDING? PLEASE! THOSE RATS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. Way to go - again - FD. Don't u guys have a disability scam or prostitute rape scandal to keep u busy like ur brothers in neighboring towns?
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