MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Compliance checks of several marijuana grow sites in the Middletown area on Thursday resulted in two arrests and the seizure of 399 marijuana plants.
Michael Joseph Simon, 30, and 41-year-old Peter Jefferson Wainwright, both from Santa Rosa, were arrested in the operation, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force, along with personnel from Lake County Code Enforcement, conducted the marijuana compliance checks on six locations in the Middletown and Lower Lake area, Brooks said.
As a result, 399 marijuana plants were eradicated and seized. Brooks said the seized marijuana was located on property with no structures.
Three other residences were warned that they were out of compliance. They were given a 48-hour notice by Lake County Code Enforcement to remove the excessive plants, he said.
The first residence had 84 marijuana plants, Brooks said, while the second residence had 80 marijuana plants and the third residence had 90 marijuana plants.
Brooks said detectives located Joseph and Wainwright at an address on Saint Helena Creek Road in Middletown. Both men said they were growing medical marijuana for patients from the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, as well as for themselves. They told detectives that they had approximately 300 marijuana plants growing on the property.
There was no residence on the property and both suspects appeared to be staying in a motor home, Brooks said.
Detectives located 303 marijuana plants inside a large metal fenced compound. A water line was followed from the compound several hundred yards to a well, which had been illegally drilled next to a spring, Brooks said. A large hole was located near the motor home where the suspects had been dumping human waste.
Both Simon and Wainwright consented to a search of their motor home, where detectives located a 40-caliber semi automatic pistol and a substantial amount of methadone, for which neither Simon nor Wainwright had a prescription, Brooks said.
Both subjects were arrested for possession of a controlled substance, cultivation of marijuana and being armed while committing a drug offense. Both were transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.
Bail for each of the men was set at $15,000. Jail records indicated both posted the required percentage of bail and were released.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.