Investigator says pot was growing in open

A man caught allegedly growing marijuana in the open was arrested recently after lawmen found 56 marijuana plants during a visit to his home.

The suspect, Lawrence Ralph, Jr. is charged with manufacture of marijuana after lawmen made the discovery in his girlfriend?s driveway.

?They were right there when we pulled in. There wasn?t any hiding to it,? said sheriff?s investigator Jackie Matheny Jr. ?They were sitting on the back of a truck for anybody to see.?

Matheny said he went to the home during the course of investigating an unrelated incident and was admittedly surprised to see the fledgling plants in the driveway. All the plants were in small containers and were not very large.

?He was actually getting a late start on it from what it appeared because the plants were pretty small,? Matheny said.

There were also more plants found in a garage area while other small containers were found where marijuana had apparently been planted but not yet sprouted. Matheny said Ralph admitted growing the plants, telling lawmen his girlfriend had nothing to do with the illegal endeavor.