Chesco police charge 2 in pot-growing operation

Police serving a search warrant Tuesday morning at a home in the 100 block of East Street Road in Thornbury Township found an extensive marijuana-growing operation, according to a news release from the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department.

Officers seized 91 plants, 109 rooted stalks, fertilizer, grow lights, a carbon-dioxide system, records, scales, and packaging material, the release said. Patrick Martin Morrison Jr., 31, who was in the house at the time, was charged with multiple drug offenses, including manufacturing a controlled substance. His father, Patrick Martin Morrison, 61, was apprehended later, police said.

The two were arraigned before District Court Judge William Kraut, who scheduled a preliminary hearing for June 17. The elder Morrison was released after posting 10 percent of $20,000 bail, and his son was taken to Chester County Prison after failing to post 10 percent of his $75,000 bail. - Kathleen Brady Shea