NICE — January 12th. Approximately 10 a.m.
A patrol deputy traveling south on westbound Highway 20 noticed a fellow motorist driving with a broken tail light and dragging a dog leash from the passenger door. Eyebrows went up.
Upon conducting an enforcement stop near Pyle Road, he became acquainted with one Kevin Lord Dirksen (30) of Santa Maria, who came right out and admitted to not having a driver’s license because it was expired and previously suspended. When asked if he was hiding anything illegal in the vehicle, Dirksen said he had about eight ounces of weed stashed in a backpack.
Kevin had a backpack full of weed.
Meanwhile, a records check conducted by Central Dispatch came back with information that Dirksen was on searchable probation out of San Luis Obispo county for sales of a controlled substance, and that his license had been suspended due to his failure to appear in court. Back in 2009, he’d been arrested in Willits on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance (50 grams of hash and .6 grams of meth), possession of concentrated cannabis, and driving on a suspended license.
And check it out, some hash pucks.
The deputy searched the vehicle and found 10.3 ounces of pot, 12.3 ounces of hash, 6.1 ounces of psilocybin mushrooms, and 800 dosage units of LSD. Dirksen mentioned being a sound technician who grows medical marijuana for patients, though he uses it for bartering rather than selling. He went on to explain that he would trade a “puck” of hash — which he claims to have obtained from a friend, as opposed to making himself — for an ounce of processed weed.
Then he said he was borrowing the car and didn’t know there’d been LSD and shrooms hidden within.
And why not… a whole lot of LSD.
Dirksen was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance, possession of concentrated cannabis, possession of more than one ounce of marijuana, and for — all together now — driving on a suspended license. He was taken in and booked at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility on $35,000 bail.
Read more:
Lake County News: Santa Maria man arrested; LSD, hash, marijuana and mushrooms seized
Lake County Sheriff’s Department press release (Nixle)
Willits News: Crime time for August 14 (2009 arrest)
