Firefighters find pot plants; couple arrested

Firefighters find pot plants; couple arrested

Dec. 28, 2000

By Tom Vaughan
Mancos Times Editor

Mancos volunteer firemen, responding Dec. 20 to a report of an electrical fire in a house at 757 Riverside Ave., chanced onto a different kind of flammable material — 44 marijuana plants.

As a result, two Mancos residents and business owners are facing felony drug charges.

Dave Kempner and Louise Peterson, owners of International Palate, a takeout restaurant in Mancos, were taken into custody the evening of Dec. 20 and were each charged with unlawful production of marijuana, a felony, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Kalvin Boggs. Both posted $3,000 bail and were released on Dec. 21.

According to the incident report filed by Montezuma County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Trap, who responded to the site with the fire department at 6:55 p.m. Dec. 20, the fire appeared to have begun at the rear of the residence. The wood-frame structure was recently purchased by Kempner and Peterson.

Lyle Cox, Mancos fire chief, confirmed Wednesday that the fire originated in an outlet, which "may have been overloaded," in a back porch area. The fire "flamed up the wall" to the second story on the south side of the building, he said.

To put out the fire, firefighters worked from both sides of the wall on both floors. Volunteer fireman Scotty Cox broke through a locked door to get at an affected part of the wall in an upstairs bedroom.

Trap reported he left the scene as the fire appeared to be under control, then was called back with Deputy Tom Quinnett at 7:45 p.m.

Cox, in reviewing the fire at the scene with the volunteers, had learned that Scotty Cox had observed plants, lamps and fertilizer in the locked room, and dispatch was notified. Trap said he then requested further assistance and Sgt. Brad Milligan, Agent Jason Spruell and Detective Steve Harmon arrived at the scene.

Scotty Cox showed the officers the objects he’d seen, which Trap listed in his report as including 44 small marijuana plants, hooks on the ceiling, large lamps lying on the floor, containers of fertilizer and a "small water pipe."

During this initial investigation, Trap’s report said, "Kempner volunteered that he had marijuana plants growing in the bedroom. Kempner told me Peterson did not know of the plants until this date."

The sheriff’s office posted a guard to secure the site for the rest of the night of Dec. 20, Boggs related, and executed a search warrant on Dec. 21, seizing any plants and related paraphernalia.

According to a spokesperson at the Montezuma County Court, Kempner and Peterson have a 10:30 a.m. appointment at the court on Jan. 17 for appearance of counsel. A preliminary-hearing date will be set within the next month, at which time the couple will enter pleas to the charges.