Abes

The People appeal from order granting motion to set aside count I of the information (possession for sale of PCP); count II (under the influence of PCP) was transferred to the municipal court for further proceedings.

I

Facts

About 2:30 p.m. Sergeant McCormick received a radio call to investigate possible PCP at an apartment building on Cleon Avenue; when he arrived he smelled a very strong odor of ether; the manager told him she had detected a heavy odor of ether about the premises and it was emitting from apartment 53, then took the officers up one flight to apartment 53 (in which defendants Abes and Luna resided) which opened onto a stairwell. The odor of ether was very strong, “extremely heavy” outside of and coming from apartment 53; Sergeant McCormick associated this odor with the manufacture of PCP and knew that ether was an extremely flammable and explosive chemical; he then directed an officer to the rear of the building and ordered a fire department unit and additional police units.

When additional police units arrived, the officers began evacuation of the apartment building because ether is “extremely flammable and explosive.” The officers knocked on doors…