False alarm medical emergency leads to arrest on drug charges

SHARE False alarm medical emergency leads to arrest on drug charges
ernst_wir_011415.jpg

Jonathan B. Ernst | Crystal Lake police

Police following up on what turned out to be a false emergency call at a northwest suburban home instead found a stash of marijuana and arrested the homeowner.

About 2 p.m. Tuesday, police were called to a “medical emergency” at a home in the 100 block of West Crystal Lake Avenue in Crystal Lake, but were unable to “make contact” with anyone inside, a statement from Crystal Lake police said.

Because of the emergency nature of the call, and “concerned for the well-being of any possible occupants,” police officers entered and searched the home for anyone in medical distress, police said.

They found 35-year-old Jonathan B. Ernst in a bedroom, and “were able to determine the reported medical emergency was a false alarm, accidentally set off by another family member no longer present,” police said.

However, during the search, police also found more than 300 grams of cannabis in Ernst’s bedroom, as well as “evidence of unlawful drug activity,” the statement said.

He was charged with felony counts of possession of cannabis with intent to deliver and possession of cannabis, police said. He was also charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a hypodermic syringe and unlawful production of cannabis plant.

Ernst remained in the McHenry County Jail in Woodstock as of Wednesday afternoon on a $35,000.00 bond, according to police.

The Latest
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”