A traffic stop for a broken headlight led to a drug bust after Alaska State Troopers allegedly found more than 5 ounces of marijuana, other drug-related paraphernalia and a loaded gun in the stopped vehicle.
Bodie C. Bergonzini, 18, was stopped just after midnight on Saturday at the intersection of Kalifornsky Beach Road and Polar Street for driving with a headlight out, according to a trooper affidavit filed with the Kenai court.
The trooper reported in the affidavit that he had smelled “burnt and fresh” marijuana during the stop. Troopers say Bergonzini showed the trooper a marijuana pipe with a small amount of burned residue inside.
A search of the vehicle turned up a number of drug-related items, including a box of unused plastic sandwich baggies, a cylindrical metal object that could be used to grind marijuana, mason jars containing what appeared to be marijuana, and a waxy substance that appeared to be marijuana extract, or “dabs,” according to the affidavit.
The trooper also reported finding two glass pipes, a digital scale, a plastic tray covered with green plant residue, open and unsealed vacuum bags with green residue in them and rolling papers, among other things, in the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
A Walther .22-caliber pistol containing nine live rounds of ammunition in the magazine was found in a bag in the vehicle’s trunk, the trooper reported.
Altogether, the green plant substances found in the vehicle weighed 152.948 grams, the equivalent of approximately 5.4 ounces, according to the affidavit. The trooper reported that presumptive field kit tests of containers holding the green plant substances found a positive result for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Under state law, it is illegal for anyone under 21 to possess any amount of marijuana.
Bergonzini is charged with second-degree misconduct involving weapons, a class B felony; and third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, a class C felony. Bergonzini was arraigned on Feb. 24. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 16.
Reach Erin Thompson at ethompson@peninsulaclarion.com.
