NASHVILLE – The family van may not withstand a police drug dog’s scrutiny.
But Rep. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, says that’s the only aftermath of an incident in which a young man and woman apparently broke into his vehicle to smoke marijuana and party.
The Southeast Tennessee lawmaker said today he noticed things weren’t quite right last Wednesday morning as he walked up to the 2002 minivan, which was sitting in the parking lot at the Trinity Lane motel, where he stays at in Nashville while the Legislature meets.
“I noticed that one of the sliding doors was cracked open, and I thought, ‘Someone’s been inside my van,'” he said.
“I didn’t identify the smell at first,” said Rep. Bell, a religious conservative. “I knew somebody had been smoking something.”
The motel’s manager and an employee came out, Rep. Bell said, and the employee identified the smell as marijuana.
“I didn’t know if it was a funny smell of tobacco,” he said. “Of course, there are going to be jokes about that. But I didn’t.”
Rep. Bell is running for the state Senate and the culprits also scattered two boxes of Bell campaign bumper stickers and campaign cards around the van.
“They didn’t steal anything,” Rep. Bell said. “Both back seats were laid back as if they had been sleeping.”
Rep. Bell said the night manager later reviewed security camera tapes and told him a young man and woman were seen getting into the van. He said motel staff told him they later located the duo, who were part of a group selling magazines in the Nashville area and staying at the motel.
They wrote him apologies “for smoking pot in your van,” said Rep. Bell. “They actually admitted to it.”
He said he didn’t report it to police so no charges have been filed.