KELSEYVILLE – A Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics detective spotted a suspicious man last Thursday, June 12, and ended up detaining a potentially violent stalker as well as an illegal drug grower and dealer.
The alert detective was traveling at 1:20 in the afternoon along Highway 29 south of the main town of Kelseyville, which is south west of Clear Lake in Lake County. According to Steve Brooks of the Sheriff’s office, he noticed a Toyota pickup truck pulled over at Cole Creek Road, and a man walking through the brush alongside the barbed wire fencing. He stopped to investigate, and recognized the man as 47-year-old Kenneth Scott Ostergaard, a man known to have a history of domestic violence and was subject to a restraining order. The detective was also aware that the protected person lived nearby, and that Ostergaard was likely once again in violation.
The detective found Ostergaard pulled over on Cole Creek Road off Highway 29.
Ostergaard’s history of violations goes back to at least May 2009, when he was arrested on the charge of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or co-habitant (pc 273.5). That was followed by an arrest in June of 2011 for spousal battery, and additional warrant arrest in January 2013, and a charge of battery (pc 242) in September. In January of this year he was arrested on charges of disobeying a domestic relations court order, which he was charged for again in April. He was also the suspect in an additional restraining order violation, but fled before deputies arrived.
When the detective contacted Ostergaard, he asked him what he was doing out there. Ostergaard tried to claim that he was just looking for someplace to go to the bathroom. That claim would ring false when a quick check could reveal that he lived just 5 miles away on Kelsey Creek Drive, also in Kelseyville. When the detective asked him to produce his identification, Ostergaard said it was in the pickup. The detective smelled the familiar scent of marijuana coming from the open window of the truck, and when asked, Ostergaard admitted to having some pot inside. With probable cause established, the detective continued to search the Toyota, finding a small bindle of methamphetamine in his wallet, a cigarette box with processed marijuana, three hydrocodone pills in someone else’s prescription bottle, and a rifle scope.
After his arrest, detectives turned their attention to Ostergaard’s residence on Kelsey Creek Drive.
When confronted with these items, Ostergaard fessed up to possession of the the drugs for himself, and admitted that he was checking out the prohibited property to see what vehicles may be there. The rifle scope seemed to be for observing the subject house, and was included with the drugs as collected evidence. He was arrested on charges of stalking and possession of controlled substances. Based on the variety of narcotics Ostergaard was carrying, detectives decided to check out his home on Kelsey Creek Drive. They could see a hoop style greenhouse with what appeared to be over 100 marijuana plants growing inside, and requested a search warrant that same day.
A then healthy marijuana crop was found in a greenhouse on Ostergaard’s property.
With the warrant quickly granted, they confirmed the greenhouse contained a total of 136 four foot high marijuana plants. An indoor inspection revealed 20 more plants growing at about two feet tall, and a room dedicated to processing harvested marijuana. They eradicated all 156 plants at the location. After this find, they asked Ostergaard at the jail what he was doing with all this marijuana, and he said he intended to sell it. He said he usually gets $1,000 per pound. There is no indication that he was growing it for a medical marijuana co-op, but even then, the quantity far exceeded the allowable limits for that purpose. Charges of possessing marijuana for sale, and cultivation were added to his booking report.
