Police Say Rock Star Was Free-Basing in Car
SAN FRANCISCO — The Grateful Dead’s legendary patriarch Jerry Garcia was released on bail after his arrest by a police officer who accused him of free-basing cocaine in the front seat of his BMW, police said Saturday.
San Francisco police Officer Mark Gamble said he noticed that the registration had expired on a car parked Friday off a roadway in Golden Gate Park and confronted Garcia. Gamble said he noticed a “strong smell of something burning” and saw Garcia drop a piece of tin foil between the car’s front seats.
Gamble said he later found 23 small bundles, thought to be either heroin or cocaine, in a nearby briefcase. Garcia, 42, of San Rafael, was arrested on two counts of possession of narcotics and one count of paraphernalia possession, Deputy Sheriff Greg Eatmon said.
Garcia was released after posting $7,250 bail, Eatmon said.
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