By David Richie Bee
Sacramento Bee
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Traffic stop leads to big bust for Md. rookie
RANCHO CORDOVA, Ca. - Rancho Cordova police officers started off with a routine traffic stop March 15 and ended up confiscating marijuana, firearms and cash including about $9,000 being carried around in a diaper bag.
The marijuana bust was not large-scale in terms of quantity, but it was one of the first suspected drug dealing operations discovered in the city’s new and rapidly growing Anatolia area, officials said. The incident occurred in the 4100 block of Anatolia Drive.
Police seized about 9 ounces of marijuana, a little more than $10,000 in cash, a rifle, a handgun and two shotguns equipped with pistol grips, said Detective Sgt. Pete James, a spokesman for the Rancho Cordova Police Department. Estimated value of the pot is about $500 per ounce, James said.
A police motorcycle officer stopped Dan Hoang Nguyen, 26, about 9 a.m., when Nguyen reportedly ran a stop sign, police said.
The officer said he detected the odor of fresh marijuana. A search of the vehicle turned up about 63 grams of marijuana and about $1,300 in cash, police said.
Additional officers were called in, and they started watching Nguyen’s house down the street, James said.
After a while, officers said they spotted Nguyen’s wife leaving in another car. She was driving somewhat erratically, made a U-turn in the street and then parked along the curb, police said.
An officer then made what police described as a “consensual contact” with the woman, who had two children in the car. After getting permission to search the car, the officer said he found the diaper bag containing the $9,000.
Police said they were given permission to enter the house, where they found Dan Nguyen’s brother, Khanh Nguyen, 24, allegedly trying to flush marijuana down the toilet. Officers found about 7 ounces of marijuana in a box near the toilet and then found the guns, James said.
The brothers were both arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale. Dan Nguyen was released from jail the same day, and Khanh Nguyen was released Friday.
“The down side of having that in your neighborhood is that it can bring in other kinds of trouble,” James said.
Shooting ends in arrest A 21-year-old Cameron Park man was arrested Sunday night for allegedly taking two shots at another man outside the Circle K near Green Valley Road and Cameron Park Drive.
The shooting occurred about noon.
A man told deputies that he was standing in line when he noticed a man subsequently identified as Nickolas Green glaring at him, investigators said. Green then reportedly left the store.
When the other man walked out of the store, he saw Green pointing a handgun at him, investigators said. Green allegedly squeezed off two shots, missed both times and then drove off westbound on Green Valley Road in a white Chevy Caprice, investigators said.
The shooting victim told deputies that he did not know his assailant and had no idea what set him off.
Deputies said they identified Green as the alleged shooter and arrested him at his home. He was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and was still in jail Monday.
Thieves raid work sites Burglars hit homes under construction last week, stealing copper pipe, equipment and pretty much anything else that they could get to.
Construction sites were targeted on Chateau Montelana and Green View drives in El Dorado Hills as well as a home on Estepa Drive in Cameron Park, investigators said.
Tool storage hit Commercial burglars cut through a chain-link fence to raid storage containers in the 4600 block of Golden Foothill Parkway, El Dorado Hills.
They stole rotary hammers, power saws, bolt cutters and similar tools and equipment.
Company officials offered a preliminary loss estimate of almost $8,000 and expected the toll to go higher, investigators said.
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