News

Just in from the Sheriff's Dept.:

Humboldt County Sheriff's Deputies arrested a McKinleyville man late Monday night after finding him driving through town with nearly 100 pounds of marijuana in his car. At about 10:15 p.m. a deputy was stopped at an intersection when a vehicle turned at the same intersection. The deputy smelled the strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, a GMC Yukon, and followed the vehicle for a short distance. As the deputy was behind the vehicle, the smell of marijuana was constant and strong.

The vehicle suddenly pulled into the driveway of a residence on the 1100 block of Bates Road in McKinleyville and stopped. The driver of the vehicle told the deputy he was at the residence to see a friend. The deputy knew the residents at that address and asked the driver, Ross C. Lamer, 26, who he was there to see. Lamer could not name anyone at the residence.

As the deputy was speaking to Lamer the deputy saw harvested marijuana plants in the cargo area of the Yukon. The deputy saw the cargo area was approximately three-fourths full of marijuana. The deputy ran Lamer for warrants and learned he had a suspended license and he was on probation. The deputy arrested lamer for driving on a suspended license and violation of his probation.

Sheriff's Deputies, with the assistance from the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, obtained a search warrant for Lamer's residence on the 2600 block of Bolier Avenue in McKinleyville. Inside Lamer's house, deputies found a loaded handgun, $27,000 in cash, and 47 growing marijuana plants ranging in height from two feet to three feet tall. The marijuana in the Yukon weighed 98 pounds.

Lamer was transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility (HCCF). He was booked for the transportation of marijuana for sales, possession of marijuana for sale, cultivation of marijuana, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, driving on a suspended license, and a probation violation. Additionally, Lamer was enrolled in (technically, one is "booked into") the Sheriff's Work Alternative Program (SWAP) at the time of his arrest. He was to be serving sentences on SWAP for convictions for evading a peace officer, driving under the influence, and a probation violation. After being transported to the HCCF, those charges were added and he will serve the remainder of those sentences in custody.

Lamer is expected to be arraigned by Thursday. He is not eligible to post bail as he is sentenced on separate cases.