Truck rollover leads to drug arrest Midcoast police find cash, pot, pills after crash

ROCKLAND – Thomaston and Rockland police seized large amounts of marijuana and prescription drugs earlier this week, as well as more than $27,000 in cash, when an officer investigated a car wreck shortly before midnight.

Rockland Deputy Police Chief Wallace Tower and Thomaston Chief Kevin Haj on Thursday displayed the cache of drugs and money.

Bundles of bills, bags of pills and more than 1 pound of marijuana were spread across a table inside the police station sallyport.

The drug bust comes on the heels of several other drug cases in recent weeks that have culminated in arrests – some related, some not.

Haj hailed the cooperation of the two departments, saying cooperation is “what makes things happen here.”

“As the chief says, drugs do not have a boundary,” Tower said, referring to Rockland Police Chief Alfred Ockenfels.

At the scene of the truck accident late Tuesday night, Thomaston police Officer Tim Hoppe found three large bags of marijuana, weighing a combined 11/4 pounds.

Numerous amounts of prescription drugs, including Percocet, Ritalin and oxycodone, were also seized. A bag of unidentified white powder, which is being tested, was also discovered at the accident scene, which occurred near the intersection of Routes 1 and 131.

H. William Burns, 51, of 30 Payson Lane was driving a 2003 Nissan pickup truck north on Route 131 and apparently fell asleep at the wheel and drove off the road. The vehicle struck a small tree, rolled at least once and came to rest upright in a drainage ditch, according to police.

Burns has a history of drug convictions, Rockland Detective Sgt. James Pease said, including a federal drug conviction for conspiracy to traffic, involving more than 20 pounds. The self-employed carpenter also had convictions in the 1980s for marijuana trafficking, he said.

Burns suffered minor injuries in the crash, but declined hospital treatment.

While Hoppe was investigating the accident, he found the drugs and money. The large amount of currency in various denominations was on the ground and loose in the bed of the truck. When the cash was counted, there was $27,799 seized.

Burns was taken to Knox County Jail, where he was charged with aggravated trafficking in marijuana and aggravated trafficking in oxycodone, Haj said.

On Wednesday, Burns appeared in 6th District Court and bail was set at $25,000 single-surety or $5,000 cash, according to jail Lt. Kathy Carver. He had not made bail by late Thursday.

In the late 1990s, a search of Burns’ home yielded several pounds of marijuana and $14,000 cash, police said.

Based on Hoppe’s findings at the accident, Rockland and Thomaston police obtained a search warrant for Burns’ home. During the search, officers found evidence of trafficking in marijuana, but no additional drugs.

The case is still under investigation, Tower said.

Leaving Burns’ home Wednesday morning was a 1992 Oldsmobile driven by Ruth Byrd, 49, of Union, Tower said.

The vehicle was stopped by Rockland police and a search warrant obtained. After searching the vehicle, police found three-quarters of a pound of marijuana and prescription drugs, Tower said.

Byrd was charged with furnishing marijuana and possession of prescription drugs.