On Monday October 26, 2009 at approximately 10:45 p.m., Phoenix Police officers were flagged down by Phoenix Neighborhood Patrol who reported a Budget Rental van had been driving slowly around the neighborhood in a suspicious manner. The patrol officers located the van at 6512 South 69th Glenn. Officers contacted Craig Richards, 22, and Nicole Gordon, 26, at the van but a third person, who had been inside the van, fled into the backyard. The officers followed the path of the suspect, who had apparently entered the home, and observed that there were pry marks on the arcadia door.
The officers began calling out to the occupants of the house. Sophia Plummer, 26, and her 14 year-old daughter exited the house and were detained. Sophia stated there were people inside the home who did not live there. At that time officers secured the perimeter of the home and the Phoenix Police Special Assignments Unit was called in to assist.
A police canine used in the initial suspect search alerted to marijuana on a kitchen table and several boxes which were stacked in the living room. Detectives also saw two AR-15 rifles, handguns and ammunition inside the house. Phoenix Police Night Detectives authored a search warrant based on the marijuana along with the queues of the drug detection canine. The search of the home revealed 37 individually packed boxes with each box containing at least one cellophane packaged bail of marijuana. The weight of the marijuana was estimated at over 1,500 pounds with a street value of approximately one million dollars.
Richards, Gordon, Plummer, and Andrew White, 19, have all been booked for possession of marijuana for sale. White and Richards were also booked on charges of misconduct involving weapons.
