Thirty bales of marijuana with an estimated street value of $500,000 were found floating in the waters off Marina del Rey, sheriff’s deputies said Thursday. Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Carriles said a recreational boater first found five bales in the water around noon Wednesday and alerted deputies and the U.S. Coast Guard, Kristin S. Agostoni reports in the Los Angeles Daily News. Not long after, authorities found another 25 bales in the same vicinity – within a roughly 4-square-mile area about six nautical miles northwest of the harbor entrance, he said. Carriles said it appeared as [...]
A Nevada City woman was arrested after being stopped in Illinois, for allegedly carrying 167 pounds of marijuana. Cara Ringland, 32, was pulled over by officers Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 80 near Peru, Ill., The Union of Grass Valley reports. She has been charged with unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, with a possible prison term of between six and 30 years with no possibility of probation. A bond hearing was pending Thursday. No further information was available from the La Salle County State’s Attorney.
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SANTA CRUZ – Two armed men robbed a medical marijuana dispensary just after 7 p.m. Thursday. Employees inside the dispensary on the 3100 block of Paul Sweet Road reported that two armed men burst into the business wearing clown masks and sporting guns. They got away with an unknown amount of money from the safe. No one inside the business, Creme de Canna, was reported injured, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports. Police are looking for two Latino males, ages 15 to 20, thin build. One had a single-action revolver, the other had a small Beretta, [...]
In what may be the first case of its kind in state history, a Healdsburg man whose marijuana was stolen in a home-invasion robbery will be allowed to seek restitution from the defendants. “It certainly does represent a milestone,” said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland advocacy group for medical marijuana users. “I appreciate the court recognizing this as a lawful substance. Victims should be compensated.” But just how much Michael Steffens’ weed is worth will be open to debate, Paul Payne reports in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. His [...]
Three people were arrested and marijuana was seized early Sunday after authorities found a smuggling boat near Point Mugu. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested three men they said were transporting drugs in a panga boat found off Pacific Coast Highway and Deer Creek Road, Ventura County sheriff’s officials said. Sheriff’s officials responded to a call about 5 a.m. Sunday to help ICE officials who were looking for the passengers on the boat, the Ventura County Star reports. ICE officials found the three men on foot near the area before 7:20 a.m., Capt. Dave Murray [...]
Michael Steffens gets a little nervous these days when he hears car wheels coming up his rural Healdsburg driveway or one of his dogs barking at the window. A little more than two years ago, the 51-year-old carpenter was the victim of a home-invasion robbery in which he was tied up and beaten by four men who dressed as police officers. Steffens survived and the men were quickly caught and punished, Paul Payne reports in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. But unlike other victims, Steffens said he’s been unable to get public assistance for the [...]
While looking to arrest the landowners associated with a massive marijuana growing operation busted in October near Mad River, police uncovered an entire McKinleyville apartment complex dedicated to growing pot. The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office served a search warrant Oct. 26 in a remote area of eastern Humboldt County that resulted in more than 40 arrests, the seizure of almost 2,000 growing plants, more than 1,450 pounds of dried marijuana and 240 pounds of processed marijuana buds. Most of those arrested at the scene were trimmers hired to process the dried marijuana into a [...]
SANTA CRUZ – A jury found Stewart Skuba, 34, guilty of murder for the 2009 death of Elias Sorokin on Friday. The former Westside hairdresser was accused of robbing, kidnapping and killing 29-year-old Sorokin on July 21, 2009 in a Felix Street garage and dumping the body off a North Coast cliff. His body has never been found but his burned truck was discovered in the Santa Cruz Mountains several days after he was reported missing. Jurors returned with guilty verdicts on the murder and robbery charges, but was unable to reach a verdict on [...]
PLEASURE POINT – About $1,000 and 10 pounds of marijuana was stolen from Herbal Cruz marijuana dispensary Thursday night, and Santa Cruz sheriff’s deputies said they are searching for three suspects. Two men wearing black hooded sweatshirts, gloves and “carnival” masks with black eyes and red lips entered the store about 8 p.m., said deputy April Skalland. At least one man had a handgun and demanded cash from the register, Skalland said. Deputies said the men left with cash and plastic bins with marijuana in them, Stephen Baxter reports in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. They [...]
MODESTO — Investigators found guns, a bullet-proof vest and 106 marijuana plants growing in the Keyes home of a former Stanislaus County sheriff’s detective when they served a search warrant at the property earlier this year as part of an off-duty shooting investigation, according to court testimony Thursday. Kari Abbey, 34, is accused of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of Rita Elias, 31, who was living in one of the rental homes Abbey managed for her father. Abbey also has been charged with criminal conspiracy, embezzlement, cultivating marijuana, receiving [...]
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