Glendale police arrest cyclist, discover alleged drug sales from motel

A 47-year-old Glendale man was arrested Saturday after police found pills without a prescription, ecstasy and a cell phone with text messages indicating marijuana sales were occurring in his hotel room, officials said.

The man, Jose Cerezo, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance, narcotics without a prescription and possessing marijuana with the intent to sell, according to Glendale police.

Officers were patrolling about 10 a.m. the area near El Rio Motel in the 1500 block of East Colorado Street when they stopped Cerezo for riding his bicycle on the sidewalk.

After Cerezo allowed officers to search him, they found his wallet and a large amount of cash.

Cerezo told them he was afraid to leave the wallet in his motel room, where he said he was storing a firearm and marijuana, according to police reports.

That prompted police to search Cerezo’s room after he consented.

Cerezo reportedly told police he kept a firearm and ammunition in his room for protection.
Police reported finding a backpack containing two prescription bottles with pills belonging to someone else, another bottle containing a marijuana cigarette and an ecstasy pill with a “Batman” logo.

They also found a shoe box with a prescription bottle with medical marijuana and multiple pharmacy receipts for prescriptions belonging to someone else.

Cerezo then allegedly allowed police to search his cell phone, where they found “several text messages indicating that he was involved in purchasing as well as selling marijuana,” according to police. Another cell phone also showed similar text messages, police said.

-- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA