San Benito County’s drug team arrested five Hollister residents
on drug use and possession charges Friday
– condemning the residence the group was living in for unsafe
living conditions in the process, according to police.
Hollister – San Benito County’s drug team arrested five Hollister residents on drug use and possession charges Friday – condemning the residence the group was living in for unsafe living conditions in the process, according to police.
Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team agents, assisted by officers from the Hollister Police Department, arrested Amy Quitoriano, 19, Gerardo Gonzalez, 33, Dilbert Torres, 41, Roland Ramiscal, 38, and Felicia Ruiz, 33, at their home at 320 McCarthy Street Friday afternoon, according to Danielle Ayers, acting UNET commander.
Quitoriano, Gonzalez and Ramiscal were arrested for being under the influence of methamphetamine, misdemeanors, while Torres was arrested for being under the influence of meth and violation of probation, a felony. Ruiz was booked for possession of drugs for sale, possession of drug paraphernalia and drug possession, all felonies, along with five local warrants, according to a UNET-issued written statement.
Agents seized methamphetamine, a small amount of marijuana, glass smoking pipes and a digital scale, according to the statement.
The three-bedroom, two-bath home the five people were occupying was deemed unsafe to occupy for a number of reasons, said Hollister Code Enforcement Officer Mike Chambless. Between electrical, plumbing and structural issues, garbage was strewn throughout the house and property and someone was living in a shed in the backyard, he said.
Chambless said he will send his report to the owner, who does not live in the house, and if she doesn’t correct the issues within a determined time schedule she will be fined until she does, he said.
Torres and Ruiz remain in custody at the San Benito County Jail, but the other three suspects were released on their own recognizance Friday, according to jail personnel.
The arrests, which could send Quitoriano, Gonzalez and Ramiscal to county jail, and Torres and Ruiz to state prison if convicted, come on the heels of President George Bush’s proposed budget release that could cut crucial funding UNET relies on every year. If Bush’s cuts are approved, it would carve a significant portion out of a grant that largely supplements UNET’s budget as a way for the federal government to siphon money into Homeland Security.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
