GPD raid leads to arrests

Officers serve search warrant at property adjacent to GHS

GUSTINE – A search of a Highway 33 property adjacent to the Gustine High campus last Wednesday afternoon led to the seizure of drugs, rifle magazines and suspected stolen property, Gustine police said.

Three people were booked on felony charges, according to a GPD press release.

Officers converged on the property shortly after 5 p.m. to serve a search warrant.

During the search, approximately four grams of suspected methamphetamine, two pounds of marijuana, several high capacity rifle magazines and approximately 50 pounds of metal believed stolen from a vacant cheese plant nearby was located, according to authorities.

No illegal firearms were found, according to Sgt. Jim Hamera.

The police action was the second at the property in little more than a week’s time.

A Gustine High student reported hearing a gunshot and seeing an individual with what appeared to be a weapon on the property adjacent to the campus on Jan. 9, prompting a 30-minute lockdown of the school while police investigated.

Police Chief Doug Dunford said officers spotted additional items of interest when conducting the protective sweep of the property following the gunfire report on Jan. 9, and subsequently obtained the search warrant which was served last week.

Authorities had reportedly maintained limited surveillance of the property in the meantime.

Dunford and Hamera said a total of nine officers – eight GPD officers and a former GPD officer with a drug-detecting dog who came back to assist with the operation – were involved.

Some officers were positioned on the adjacent school grounds in the event that anybody attempted to flee the property through campus. The remainder rolled in to ring the front side of the property with patrol cars and took those present on the premises into custody at gunpoint.

Police said five subjects were initially detained while officers conducted the search, including four adults and a 17-year-old female juvenile.

The property has been a growing concern in light of recent activity, police and school officials acknowledged.

Dunford said the property was investigated as a potential source of the baby rattlesnakes which began turning up on the high school campus last fall, eventually forcing early closure of the school for Thanksgiving break, but authorities were unable to substantiate any link between the property and the campus snake infestation.

The Jan. 9 report of a shot being fired from the property only heightened concerns about activity at the location, he said, and authorities began taking an even closer look at the location, leading up to last Wednesday’s operation.

Dunford said police coordinated the operation with school officials to ensure that students and staff were clear of the area when officers moved in to secure the property, which he said went smoothly with Sgt. Jim Hamera in charge at the scene.

“I oversaw the operations plan and knew that they had the parameters, and let them run it. I thought they did a very good job,” Dunford commented.

Those booked on felony charges were identified by police as:

•  Brandon Perreira, 20, of Gustine, who was booked on felony charges of child endangerment, possession of drugs for sale and committing a felony while out on pending felony charges.

•  Nicole Murphy-Powers, 37, of Los Banos, who was booked on felony drug possession charges.

•  Jerad J. Avila, 32, of Gustine, who was booked on felony charges of child endangerment, possession of drugs for sale, possession of high-capacity rifle magazines, committing a felony while out on pending felony charges and possession of stolen property. Avila, who Police Chief Doug Dunford said was the resident at the property immediately north of the ag classroom/wood shop wing at the high school, was also charged with misdemeanor possession of burglary tools. He was also arrested in conjunction with the Jan. 9 incident.

Dunford said the child endangerment charges stem from allegedly providing a controlled substance to the juvenile.

Perreira and Murphy-Powers also face misdemeanor charges of being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.

The fourth adult present when officers arrived to serve the search warrant was identified as 43-year-old Jeffrey Wozynski. Police said Wozynski and the juvenile were each cited on charges of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

In addition, Dunford said,  a woman who walked onto the scene and approached officers, identified as Nikki Harman, 35, was also cited on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Dunford said additional leads are being followed in the case, and that more arrests are possible.