Florida man hears helicopter, calls 911 to turn himself in for growing pot

EDGEWATER, Fla., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A Florida man who heard a helicopter over the storage unit where he grows marijuana panicked and turned himself in -- but police weren't looking for him.

Edgewater police said Jasper Harrison, 47, heard a helicopter hovering Wednesday morning over the storage unit where he lives in Edgewater and assumed the police were there to arrest him for growing marijuana in the unit.

Police said Harrison hurriedly called 911.

"I'm the guy they're looking for," the Orlando Sentinel quoted him as telling the dispatcher. He said he wanted to surrender without being shot.

However, police said the helicopter actually belonged to a local news station covering the investigation of a suspicious death at the home next to the unit.

"We believe he thought we were there for him," Edgewater Police Chief David Arcieri told WKMG-TV.

Harrison was arrested and charged with cultivating cannabis within 1,000 feet of a school and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. He was booked into the Volusia County Jail and later released on bond.