CHP Officer’s Fortuna Home Searched in Large-Scale Drug Trafficking Investigation
Multiple law enforcement officers were seen at a Boone Street residence in Fortuna that is reported to be owned by a CHP officer.
The California Highway Patrol has confirmed that a sweeping drug trafficking investigation conducted by its Major Crimes Unit is behind the heavy law enforcement presence reported Friday at a Boone Street residence in Fortuna, according to a statement provided to Redheaded Blackbelt Tuesday afternoon.
The statement, issued by Jaime Coffee Director of Communications for CHP Media Relations, confirms what this outlet first reported — that a search warrant was executed at a residence associated with a CHP officer.
“The California Highway Patrol’s Major Crimes Unit is conducting a large-scale investigation into suspected drug trafficking throughout California and other states,” the statement reads. “The CHP has executed several search warrants over the past week in connection with the criminal investigation. One of these warrants included the residence of a CHP officer.”
CHP confirmed that several arrests have been made and evidence was recovered during the investigation, though the agency did not specify the nature of the evidence or identify those arrested. The officer whose residence was searched has been removed from active duty.
“The CHP employee has not been arrested but has been assigned administrative duties and is restricted from performing peace officer responsibilities,” the statement reads.
As reported by Redheaded Blackbelt on Friday, the residence on Boone Street in Fortuna is associated with Omar M. Rodriguez, a CHP officer reported to be stationed out of the Garberville office. Neighbors described a significant law enforcement presence throughout the day, with at least seven unmarked vehicles, officers in tactical gear carrying long guns, and personnel observed moving large suitcases in and out of the residence.
CHP emphasized that it takes all allegations of employee misconduct seriously and takes immediate and appropriate action when misconduct is suspected.
“This criminal investigation is still ongoing; additional details are not available at this time,” the statement concludes.
At this time, it is unknown what prompted the search of Officer Rodriguez’s residence. He has not been arrested or charged in connection with the case, and as with all individuals, should be presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Redheaded Blackbelt will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available. News tips can be submitted to [email protected].
Earlier: CHP Conducts All-Day Operation at Fortuna Residence Reported to be Owned by CHP Officer
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Do as I say, not as I do.
Innocent until proven guilty.
Since this “outlet” only wants to focus on a CHP officer being served a search warrant at his residence, who were the people actually arrested at other locations being served search warrants?
Maybe check if John Chiv has anything or take a look at the booking logs over the last week and see if you can figure it out?
Where did it say it’s his residence?
Might read the article…
>”The officer whose residence was searched has been removed from active duty.”
Second paragraph:
“…that a search warrant was executed at a residence associated with a CHP officer”
The wording of that could mean that he owns it but rents it out.
Look up the word residence
Again, it could be a residence of his tenant. The wording of that sentence is ambiguous. There are other places in the article that say it’s his residence more clearly as I pointed out in another post.
Not saying AI is used in the PR’s but this is a really annoying thing with it; it can’t confirm actual ownership or status and just writes what it scraped off the internet and called it good. Results can be way off and wholly inaccurate.
But as you say, residence just means “a home”. Without further digging a reader wouldn’t know if he lived in it, or rented it, or lived in part and rented the rest. It’s just “associated”.
Nice try. No cigar. Keep piling on. As you say, it’s his residence in the article. What is your problem?
The lawyers and the prosecutor will have fun parsing out this issue.
Define “Officer Rodriguez’s residence.” Keep on keepin’ on.
AGAIN!!
Look at my other post where I point out several places where it specifically says it’s his residence, including the one you just mentioned. I’m saying the quote Ed referred to is open to interpretation.
It’s like saying a business associated with Rodriguez. Doesn’t mean he owns it, just means he’s connected to it somehow. Done trying to explain basic reading comprehension to you. 🙄
Third paragraph, last sentence.
Fourth paragraph, last sentence.
Ninth paragraph, first sentence.
“One of these warrants included the residence of a CHP officer.”
Various property record public searches and apps such as ReGRID show it’s his. Not necessary to wait on Chiv, LoCo, RHBB, Facebook or whatever to get information. Sometimes all you need is a phone call to the right department.
Try reading the headline and article.
” “This criminal investigation is still ongoing; additional details are not available at this time,” the statement concludes.”
I understand, however, does it make sense they can release the name of the CHP officer who was not arrested at his “Boone Street residence in Fortuna”, but not the name(s) who were arrested? It should be public record, yes?
As usual nit picking and nagging and carrying on when the article clearly states what is up and that it is a continuing investigation. [edit]
Really, name calling for asking a question?
“They” didn’t release the Officer’s name, Redhead investigated and found it.
“Ed”, we don’t know who was arrested at the other locations, and neither does anyone outside the investigation right now that we can identify. CHP confirmed multiple search warrants were served across California and other states, but has not identified any other locations, individuals arrested, or evidence seized — and we asked. What we can report, we have reported.
As for “only wants to focus,” that implies we targeted this search bc of the resident when we report on a large number of law enforcement operations consistently. When we see law enforcement gathering, whether staging for a cannabis bust, drug bust, a SWAT incident, etc, we report on it. When we began investigating this law enforcement action, we had no idea who the residence belonged to, nor who the lead agency was. What originally started as obtaining information on a very common tip — law enforcement gathered in numbers — led to this discovery… not bc of the resident, but bc that is where the investigation led.
While we also would like more information, our investigation into this has not revealed other confirmed details. The identities of others arrested elsewhere in this investigation have not been released by CHP. We reported everything CHP confirmed to us and will update when more information becomes available.
Well, we know nothing at all, except that a home allegedly owned by a CHP operative was searched…
Some other places were searched also…
Apparently, someone was arrested at some time, some place…
Thanks for the info!
Next item please…
Ooo tough crowd…Are we still denying that Rohnert Park Police were involved in stealing and selling cannabis, too?
Let’s list the evidence in this situation and see if you still want to hold onto there’s nothing here attitude as long as you have with the Rohnert Park police situation…
CHP has confirmed this search of a CHP officer’s home in Fortuna is part of a large-scale, multi-state drug trafficking investigation.
They’ve confirmed multiple search warrants were served over the past week.
They’ve also confirmed arrests were made and evidence was seized as part of the investigation. (We’re working on getting that info.)
The officer connected to that Fortuna residence has been removed from active duty and restricted from peace officer duties.
That’s not “nothing.” That’s a significant, ongoing criminal investigation involving a sworn officer.
And just to be clear — this is how reporting works. Early coverage reflects what is confirmed at the time. It doesn’t require a conviction to be newsworthy.
IMHO: Don’t forget…
(Some of these were probably back before your time. Big deal back then.)
—
Former CHP officer George Gwaltney was convicted in 1984 for the 1982 on-duty rape and murder of 23-year-old Robin Bishop. He initially reported finding her body along I-15. Killed her with his service revolver after the rape.
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Another notable case is former CHP officer Craig Peyer, who was convicted of murdering 20-year-old Cara Knott in 1986.
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A former assistant CHP chief has been convicted of conspiring with family members to help his son try to avoid a rape trial.
Kyle Scarber, his wife Gail, and her daughter Crystal Reynoso all pleaded “no contest” to conspiracy Monday afternoon.
Investigators say the assistant chief lied to sheriff’s deputies when he filed a missing persons report and planted evidence at their home back in December 2012.
—
Occasionally LEO’s go… bad.
If I recall accurately, the Rohnert Park Police, who obviously entertained a good-sized conspiracy to commandeer and sell demon marijuana, were never mentioned in early reports of an incident at some location on Highway 101 involving disguised “Officers” of some sort confiscating 3 or 30 pounds of Flower from another “Law enforcement officer” of some sort, and then releasing him…
The fuss came later and the real investigation took some time…
I respect your process, but it’s good to verify, and report clearly, otherwise people my get the wrong impression…
Don’t take it all so seriously, I would never try to understand some of the incidents reported here until all the facts were presented…
Whether or not I will ever believe Zeke Flatten’s story, I wish we had more information sometimes, in the service of respecting the CHP, who I still admire and regard as the last line of Professional Law Enforcement in California…
As to good news stories about the CHP, I’d start with this one. The CHP is investigating a possible crime by one of their officers. That’s exactly what I want–everyone, cop or not, held to the same standard.
And every time we report on CHP at the scene of a crash or capturing a suspect seems like reporting on the good officers do. And, of course, there is this: https://kymkemp.com/2017/03/16/a-reader-caught-a-cop-doing-this/
Note:
Different CHP Officer, from the 3/16/2017 article, just to be clear…
Not the same CHP Officer “O. Rodriguez” #21216, as the CHP Officer, “Omar M. Rodriguez, mentioned as being associated with the searched Boone Street, Fortuna, residence, who was reportedly a cadet as in 2021.
Sometimes, the fastest way to make the road safe, is to change the tire… I noticed this item and applaud the actions of capable folks…
My car doesn’t have a spare at all…
Obviously, there are always going to be people experiencing temptation, and some will just never fit the mold of Public Servant…
Thank you for the article,look forward to your updates as investigation unfolds.
Thanks Kym
If you read the headline and article, you are only focusing on this CHP officer and a search warrant for his residence…
Bc that is all we know. The broader investigation, referred to as the “Large-Scale Drug Trafficking Investigation” in the title, is the new information given to us bc of our investigating the law enforcement activity on Boone Street. If I had other confirmed information, I’d report on it.
The assumption we are focusing on someone instead of realizing that raid is news, whether the residence is owned by an officer or not. The fact that people are concerned whether a law enforcement officer’s residence is under investigation should not be shocking to anyone, but the profession isn’t what makes this news.
“assumption”? Read the headline and article you wrote. IMHO 90% of the article is about the CHP officer, everything else is a side note…
Ed, how many articles do you read about law enforcement activity on this site? Just yesterday, there were two. We frequently cover law enforcement activity. I don’t recall you ever being concerned that we reported on who was being investigated if that information was available to us. Yesterday, the Hoopa search did not yield names or results even though we requested information. The Eureka one did. We posted that info when we got it.
This is not different only you seem to be assuming we are only covering it bc of whose residence was searched. That’s just not true. If I had more confirmed information on the scope of the investigation or those arrested, I would publish that, regardless of occupation, just as we do with every large enforcement action we can confirm in our coverage area.
“One of the great challenges in this world is knowing enough about a subject to think you’re right, but not enough about the subject, to know you’re wrong.”
– Neil deGrasse Tyson
We don’t withhold information once it’s confirmed. While you may prefer we wait until there’s been a court case and verdict, we prefer to inform the public as things are happening.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…” – Theodore Roosevelt
Awesome quote, Thank you…
you add nothing to the conversation
Thank you, Feliz Navidad…
Those names were not released. Doh!
A quarter million dollars a year and the prestige of being a CHP officer wasn’t enough?
$147,854.23 are his annual earnings from 2024 the $105,963.49 in benefits is amazing! I still doubt he’s innocent in everything!
That includes the cost of benefits and other things, not pay that goes into his pocket. If you make $70k a year but your employer pays $50k in benefits (medical, 401k matchings, CalPERS, etc.) those are counted in the total costs, so they will always look considerably higher. Now if he also had $60k in overtime, that’s something not on him, rather the department and government that allow that. So before people roast him over paychecks, just keep in mind what they include.
Pay attention. This was in the original report
It only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bucket. Ok all you cop haters…lets hear how all cops are bad…..
I guess it depends on what you are doing lol
We’ll leave that up to you. I have consistently supported good police, but I recounted my ugly experience with a shithead CHP officer on my way to cardiac care at Ft. Miley, S.F. 15 years ago on LoCO. A genuine jerk in uniform leaves a lasting impression.
Imagine if cops came to your house (drugs) and you said, I will take a demotion and my paychecks while waiting for investigation to clear my name. Would you be arrested on the spot. Dam right. Why aren’t the other party’s names being released. Maybe informants. Rules for me but not thee.
I’ve been warning people about the corruption happening in fortuna for years now. Once you know, you know. You’d avoid that entire area as it is rife with police corruption and drug cartel activities, by far the worst town in Humboldt county. Yet, known murderers roam the street without arrest, as more bodies turn up. Why haven’t they arrested him yet??!!! Corruption at its finest.
Poking the bear, is that you?
The whole county govt has been corrupt for decades. Many of the county leaders made their money directly or indirectly in the early days of growing then went legit but still get drug money. Anyone remember Sheriff Renner? I am NOT anti cop, but a dirty cop pisses me off. Most of the cops are good law abiding people even in Humboldt but many times their hands are tied by dirty city and county officials running things.
It’s kind of to be expected when pretty much the entire business structure of the county was for years a-wink-and-a-nod towards black market cannabis. When ignoring the law becomes rampant in an area corruption becomes the norm because, well, “everyone’s doing it so why not me?” is the prevailing attitude.
Oh yeah, this shit goes deep and is so sad and wrong. Like this case Fortuna Settles Wrongful Death Suit for $900K | News Blog “materially contradicted by evidence in the record.” No admission of fault and neither officer faced criminal charges, discipline or loss of employment. In fact, officer Maxwell Soeth is working for Humboldt County Sherriff’s and Sgt Charles Ellebrecht is still employed with FPD. This is also why qualified immunity needs to go.
“Officer Soeth is recorded as drawing his gun and pointing it at Mr. Newmaker (who at the time was simply laying unarmed and prostrate in the street),” Clark writes. “Mr. Newmaker was clearly unable to present any sort of credible threat. … Also, Mr. Newmaker had no weapon whatsoever in his hand. Yet, he was apparently shot in the back by officer Soeth at that time.”
“An autopsy performed on Newmaker March 20, 2012, by forensic pathologist Mark Super described injuries that would be inconsistent with someone who was shot while standing upright and swinging a baton at head level. Specifically, Super described the trajectory of one wound as entering Newmaker’s lower left back just above his belt line and travelling upward in his body, perforating his left lung and coming to a stop in his left pectoral area. The other bullet, according to Super’s report, entered Newmaker’s lower right back at the beltline and traveled upward into his heart.
According to O’Halloran, “the only reasonable ways for these bullet wound trajectories to occur … are for Mr. Newmaker to be leaning forward sharply at the time he was shot or for him to be on the ground on his knees in a steeply forward-leaning posture or to be prone on the ground.”
Sgt. Ellebrecht has not worked for FoPD for many years.
I was partially wrong on the timeline. I misread something, but my argument still stands. Ellebrecht may have left FPD in 2019, but the core issue remains: he stayed on the payroll for seven years after lying under oath.
Now Deputy Soeth, who shot an unarmed man in the back, is still working for HCSO. He has a documented pattern of excessive‑force incidents after the shooting incident as well.
An officer who lies to investigators about a shooting and man then continues to use excessive force during arrests poses a foreseeable risk. Brief reprimands, temporary reassignment, and a return to patrol do not constitute meaningful accountability. How is this allowed to go on like this?
“After Soeth had his police dog bite a suspect being restrained on the ground by five other officers during an April 4, 2020, traffic stop, Soeth’s written report of the incident omitted the fact he’d punched the suspect multiple times in the ribs prior to deploying the canine. Additionally, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal would later say, the report made it sound like Soeth was “wrestling with the driver alone” when the dog was ordered to bite. And while Soeth later told investigators he perceived the driver to be a threat, other officers described them as “lackadaisical,” “overly relaxed” and not “trying to fight us.”
https://www.northcoastjournal.com/news-2/defense-attorneys-reviewing-deputys-cases-26776146/#:~:text=After%20Soeth%20had%20his%20police,of%20the%20Journal's%20report.
And from the same article he almost killed a second man a security guard “After he and a fellow deputy opened fire on George Richard Robbins III, a security guard watching over a construction site near Martin’s Ferry Bridge on July 14, 2017, when the man brandished a gun at them, Soeth told investigators he’d identified himself as a police officer and ordered Robbins to put down the weapon before opening fire. Two other deputies on scene and Robbins, however, told investigators Soeth had opened fire without identification or warning.”
IS THIS THE TYPE OF MAN WE WANT TO SERVE AND PROTECT?
“Twelve days after Soeth ordered Yahtzee to bite that driver on the side of U.S. Highway 101, his ex-wife picked up their 6-year-old son from his care. On the drive home, the boy told her something that alarmed her. According to court documents, he said his dad had caught him telling a lie and, as punishment, punched the boy in the face twice and spanked him four or five times.She also alleged the boy said Soeth had previously threatened to punch him or “shoot” the television in response to bad behavior. (Soeth, for his part, never denied the allegations in the court filings.) Soeth’s ex reported the incident to the sheriff’s office, which would conduct a criminal investigation and ultimately submit a report to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office recommending Soeth be charged with a misdemeanor violation of Penal Code 273a(b), or inflicting “cruel or inhuman corporal punishment” on a child. But instead of charging the case, on May 18, 2020, the district attorney’s office offered Soeth a pre-charging diversion agreement, saying that while it believed he had committed the crime it would agree not to file the charge if he successfully completed a parenting course and received mental health counseling. Soeth agreed to the terms and completed the agreement in February of the following year, so no charge was ever filed in the case”
Is anyone really surprised? This county is corrupt AF! Since the 1970s, law‑enforcement officers, forest service, etc have been making a killing from busts and from dealing themselves. Indoor grows used to be how many officers made their money. Government officials would bust people during the week and deal on the weekend. Judges in Mendocino were leasing land to growers, and so on.
Just look at John Chiv’s website today and the donations Xotic made to the Sheriff. In this county, if you want someone to look the other way while you backdoor shit you bribe … I mean “donate.”
Isn’t Xotic the company that Bear Mace Bohn (Supervisor Bohn’s son) owns? Serious question- I’m not sure but I’d heard that.
I would bet money the original bust was in Texas. They busted a company that runs school busses tied to the gulf cartel. Also busted the LARGEST shipping company in america and a company that ran ambulances. All used to transport drugs. That 2as the biggest blow to drugs in america EVER. They stopped almost one third of the drugs coming across the border. I guess you guys missed it. To busy protesting ice.
Can you provide a link? I cannot find a single news report on this.