Sebastopol residents busted in large county pot raid

A marijuana-growing network was forced to downsize last week
when Sonoma County Sheriff’s narcotics detectives, assisted by
officers from multiple law enforcement agencies, served search
warrants at eight locations throughout the county.
Ten people were arrested in the sweep, including 34-year-old
Jose Ruben Diaz, who is not a sworn officer, but nonetheless is
employed by the Sheriff’s Office as a community services officer
assigned to the law enforcement division.
Diaz was put on paid administrative leave pending an internal
investigation regarding the incident, according to SCSO Special
Services Captain Matt McCaffrey.
It’s not very common for law enforcement employees to be
involved in criminal behavior, McCaffrey said. But when they are,
“our preference is to take those people off the streets first,
because if there is somebody we know employed by a law enforcement
agency we realize that they give a black eye to all law
enforcement, and we wouldn’t want somebody to think this person is
getting away with it because of their affiliation with law
enforcement,” McCaffrey said. “Just the opposite; our preference is
to get those people arrested and charged as soon as possible.”
Diaz and nine other people were arrested on suspicion of felony
drug and weapons related charges. A total of 835 marijuana plants,
about 92 pounds of processed marijuana bud, eight firearms (two
were assault weapons) and more than $300,000 in assets were
seized.
The indoor marijuana grows were found in four different
locations; two were in Santa Rosa and two were in Sebastopol,
according to McCaffrey.
The marijuana business is a “huge industry,” he said. “It’s a
multi-billion dollar industry in California; multi-million in
Sonoma County.”
Others arrested in the incident were Yarrow L. Kubrin, 37,
Heather J. Kubrin, 41, Joel R. Tucker, 38, and Brittany A. Tucker,
33, Robert Tucker, 64, all of Sebastopol; Melinda N. Petty, 33,
David R. Marbain, 53, David R. Marbain Jr., 20, and Ruth E.
Valdizon, 56, all of Santa Rosa.
Officers from Santa Rosa Police, Napa Special Investigations
Bureau, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Rosa DEA and
Sonoma County Sheriff CSI and property crime detectives assisted
with the search warrants.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are
expected, according to the Sheriff’s Office.