Police Say 19-Year-Old Had Pot at Bloom High School

A 19-year-old Chicago Heights man was charged with criminal trespass to property and possession of cannabis after a security officer detained him Friday, Sept. 2.

Jose M. Mendoza, of the 600 block of Sangamon, was held by a Bloom High School security officer who noticed him loitering on school grounds around 3:05 p.m., after classes had ended for the day, according to the report.

When the school security officer patted down Mendoza, he detected "crushable packaged objects" in his right front pants pocket, police said. The officer asked Mendoza to empty that pocket and recovered five clear plastic bags, which were field tested by and proved to be cannabis, according to the report.

In addition to the bagged cannabis, which weighed in at 6.25 grams, Mendoza was carrying a brown, hand-rolled cigar, which weighed 1 gram, police said.

Chicago Heights police placed Mendoza in custody and transported him from the school grounds at 101 W. 107th St. to police headquarters. The bagged cannabis and cigar were tagged and retained as evidence, police said.

Mendoza has a Sept. 20 court date in Markham.