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HARRISVILLE — A Keene elementary teacher facing drug charges was caught at least once on camera tending his marijuana plants, police say.
Darrel L. Beymer, 50, a third-grade Symonds Elementary teacher who lives in Harrisville, is charged with one felony count of manufacturing drugs. He is also facing related misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing and marijuana possession. He was arrested Sept. 10 and released on $3,000 personal recognizance bail.
According to court records, police searched both Beymer's white Subaru and house at 660 Hancock Road, owned by Linda Macgillvary.
Macgillvary is the director of the Harrisville Children's Center, located at 66 Main St., in Harrisville. A biography on the preschool's web site says she is married to Beymer and the couple have two children together.
Macgillvary is not facing any charges.
According to the affidavit included in the search warrant, police were alerted Aug. 5 by a Harrisville public works employee that a man parked his white Subaru near the gravel pits in town and walked out into the woods nearby. Police went into the woods and discovered two marijuana plants in a clearing, one 4 feet tall. Nearby they found hand tools, a watering bottle and large five-gallon buckets.
"It should be noted that the buckets were spray-painted green to try to conceal them in the bushes," Harrisville Detective Dana Hennessy wrote in .
The grower also covered the tools with pine boughs in an attempt to hide them.
Police believe the buckets were used to transplant "water starter plants" to the area before being planted in the ground.
Police decided to set up a hidden surveillance camera in the woods to "document any action around the plants."
According to the affidavit, Harrisville Police Chief Buddy Driscoll, initially suspected Beymer because he'd been seen parked in the area and owned a white Subaru.
On Aug. 13, Hennessy went to check the camera and discovered a picture, allegedly of Beymer, near the plant holding a plastic bag of what looked like marijuana. Police left the camera up for several more weeks. Most of the pictures showed Beymer at the site, including one taken Aug. 31 around 5 p.m., the same day as a scheduled teacher's workshop in Keene.
Beymer was allegedly photographed Labor Day, Sept. 6, at 11:15 a.m. But it was a photo taken Sept. 10 that police said shows Beymer watering and tending to the plant that led to his arrest.
According to a search warrant application, police pulled a "grow box," two fans and a vent pipe, presumably potential evidence of growing marijuana, out of Beymer's home. They took significantly more out of Beymer's Subaru, including a mail order package with "green material" in it, a silver pan with a rubber tube, a bag of "green matter," and a burning container.
Symonds Elementary Principal Richard Cate did not return calls for comment regarding Beymer. A call to Beymer's home was not returned.
Beymer is expected to be arraigned in Keene District Court Oct. 18.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source:New Hampshire and Manchester news, weather, business and sports - New Hampshire's newspaper
Author: MELANIE PLENDA
Contact: Contact the New Hampshire Union Leader
Copyright: 2010, Union Leader Corporation
Website:Police: Teacher caught on camera tending pot plant - Thursday, Sep. 16, 2010
Darrel L. Beymer, 50, a third-grade Symonds Elementary teacher who lives in Harrisville, is charged with one felony count of manufacturing drugs. He is also facing related misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing and marijuana possession. He was arrested Sept. 10 and released on $3,000 personal recognizance bail.
According to court records, police searched both Beymer's white Subaru and house at 660 Hancock Road, owned by Linda Macgillvary.
Macgillvary is the director of the Harrisville Children's Center, located at 66 Main St., in Harrisville. A biography on the preschool's web site says she is married to Beymer and the couple have two children together.
Macgillvary is not facing any charges.
According to the affidavit included in the search warrant, police were alerted Aug. 5 by a Harrisville public works employee that a man parked his white Subaru near the gravel pits in town and walked out into the woods nearby. Police went into the woods and discovered two marijuana plants in a clearing, one 4 feet tall. Nearby they found hand tools, a watering bottle and large five-gallon buckets.
"It should be noted that the buckets were spray-painted green to try to conceal them in the bushes," Harrisville Detective Dana Hennessy wrote in .
The grower also covered the tools with pine boughs in an attempt to hide them.
Police believe the buckets were used to transplant "water starter plants" to the area before being planted in the ground.
Police decided to set up a hidden surveillance camera in the woods to "document any action around the plants."
According to the affidavit, Harrisville Police Chief Buddy Driscoll, initially suspected Beymer because he'd been seen parked in the area and owned a white Subaru.
On Aug. 13, Hennessy went to check the camera and discovered a picture, allegedly of Beymer, near the plant holding a plastic bag of what looked like marijuana. Police left the camera up for several more weeks. Most of the pictures showed Beymer at the site, including one taken Aug. 31 around 5 p.m., the same day as a scheduled teacher's workshop in Keene.
Beymer was allegedly photographed Labor Day, Sept. 6, at 11:15 a.m. But it was a photo taken Sept. 10 that police said shows Beymer watering and tending to the plant that led to his arrest.
According to a search warrant application, police pulled a "grow box," two fans and a vent pipe, presumably potential evidence of growing marijuana, out of Beymer's home. They took significantly more out of Beymer's Subaru, including a mail order package with "green material" in it, a silver pan with a rubber tube, a bag of "green matter," and a burning container.
Symonds Elementary Principal Richard Cate did not return calls for comment regarding Beymer. A call to Beymer's home was not returned.
Beymer is expected to be arraigned in Keene District Court Oct. 18.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source:New Hampshire and Manchester news, weather, business and sports - New Hampshire's newspaper
Author: MELANIE PLENDA
Contact: Contact the New Hampshire Union Leader
Copyright: 2010, Union Leader Corporation
Website:Police: Teacher caught on camera tending pot plant - Thursday, Sep. 16, 2010
