$41,800 worth of pot seized

Police stop vehicle with broken lights, find drugs, guns

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published October 11, 2008

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OLYMPIA – About 11 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $41,800 was seized after a pickup's driver was pulled over about 1 p.m. Friday, Thurston County Narcotics Task Force detectives say.

About 6 pounds of marijuana was found in the pickup, which an Olympia police officer pulled over on Conger Avenue, according to the task force. The rest was found at a residence in the 1600 block of Scammel Avenue and in a Pontiac with Oregon license plates being rented by someone staying at the residence, detectives said.

Two .45-caliber handguns and one assault rifle also were seized, task force detective Jason Casebolt said. The handguns were in the pickup and the rifle was at the residence, he added.

The pickup was pulled over because the vehicle had numerous equipment violations, including a broken brake light and turn signals that did not work, Casebolt said.

Tracy Helm, who lives across the street from the residence on Scammel, said she was not surprised that detectives seized marijuana there. She said there typically are many vehicles driving to and from the residence.

Last month, she said, a resident there crashed his pickup into a tree on a nearby street, and "there were a million little foil packages sitting in the front seat."

A few years ago, the residence was home to renters who turned it into a methamphetamine lab, Helm said.

Task force commander Lt. Loreli Thompson said no one was immediately arrested after detectives obtained search warrants for the pickup, home and Pontiac. No one was in the Scammel Avenue home when the search warrant was served there, Thompson said. Criminal charges are expected to be referred to the prosecutor's office for the man who was driving the pickup, as well as a man and woman who are residing at the home.

Jeremy Pawloski covers public safety for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jpawloski@theolympian.com.