Thirty-year-old Nuquan Stewart remains held at Rikers Island awaiting his next court date to face charges that he was running a lucrative – and apparently well-defended – marijuana operation from his Queens Village home. NYPD officers stopped Stewart Tuesday at 10:45 p.m. when they noticed the 2004 Volkswagen he was driving just a half-mile from his 222nd Street apartment had a brake light out.
When they approached the car, police smelled a strong odor of marijuana and asked Stewart to step from the vehicle. That’s when cops spotted six plastic bags of the drug sticking out the open front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, and a gravity knife jutting from a cupholder in the vehicle’s center console.
As the handcuffs went on, Stewart pleaded for the officers to make sure his 8-year-old son – left home alone as Stewart ran his errands – would be OK.
Stewart offered police his address and apartment keys, and the officers ventured off to check on the young boy’s well-being.
Before the cops could even put the key in the lock, however, the unmistaken odor of cannabis was permeating the apartment building’s first-floor hallway, according to Police Officer Anton Bartoldus of the 105th Precinct’s Anti-Crime Unit.
“You could even smell it through the door,” Bartoldus said. “The smell was absolutely horrible.”
Once inside, the officers saw numerous bags of marijuana in plain view in the kitchen and living room, as well as large stacks of money. And – still sleeping in his bedroom – police quickly located Stewart’s son, who was transferred to the care of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services and, ultimately, another family member.
The next morning, police executed a search warrant at the apartment and turned up a trove of illicit items.
The seizure included 30 lbs. of marijuana in 58 separate bags, approximately $17,500 in cash, a .40-cal Smith & Wesson semiautomatic firearm loaded with 11 rounds, and a fully-automatic Ruger AR-15 assault rifle – along with two high-capacity magazines loaded with 20 live rounds.
Stewart was charged with Criminal Possession of Marijuana, Criminal Possession of a Machine Gun, Criminal Possession of a Loaded Firearm, and Failure to Exercise Control of a Minor. He has previously been arrested for the sale and possession of marijuana and crack cocaine, as well as for burglary, criminal mischief, and resisting arrest.
(Breaking911.com Newsroom)
