PEABODY — A state police helicopter was high in the sky Wednesday searching for an armed robbery suspect when it discovered a small plot of marijuana on the ground.
Members of the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing were assisting Peabody police following a robbery outside a Sovereign Bank branch on Lowell Street. They spotted the small growth in woods between Oak Grove Cemetery and Winona Street, according to Peabody police.
Yesterday, Peabody narcotics detectives and officers on all-terrain vehicles found the secluded site, which was along railroad tracks between Winona and Pine streets.
There were only four plants, all about 4 feet high, police said. Three were in pots, and a fourth was planted in the ground. All of the plants were destroyed, police said.
At maturity, the plants would have produced about 4 pounds of marijuana with a street value between $2,000 and $4,000, according to police.
"The Peabody police narcotics unit has periodically done flyovers with the (state police) and National Guard looking for marijuana (patches) in the city's wooded areas," Lt. Scott Richards said in a press release.
Richards, Detectives Eric Ricci, David Murphy and Rob Church, and officers Robert Mahoney and Fred Wojick all assisted in the investigation.
Meanwhile, police said they are pursuing "strong leads" in the robbery outside the bank.
"At this time we do not believe that this was a random act," Detective Peter Olson said in a prepared statement.
The 58-year-old robbery victim, an unidentified man, was transported to Salem Hospital with a head injury.
The suspect in the noon robbery was described as a light-skinned man wearing a black hat and a gray T-shirt. After flashing a silver handgun, the man fled in a black SUV and headed west on Lowell Street, police said.
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