Husband and wife nabbed in heroin bust
(KTVU) - This is KTVU crime reporter Henry Lee's Rap Sheet blog for Nov. 29, 2017.
COUPLE NABBED IN DRUG BUST: A husband and wife were arrested on suspicion of trafficking heroin in Sonoma County as their children rode with them in their car.
Pedro Lopez, 20, and his wife, Joann Guzman, 27, met and sold narcotics to customers in shopping center parking lots, authorities said.
The investigation began in July when the Santa Rosa police narcotic team developed evidence that Lopez was part of a "large scale heroin drug trafficking organization that distributed heroin throughout Santa Rosa and surrounding Sonoma County areas," authorities said.
Detectives began surveilling Lopez at his Petaluma home on Tuesday. They saw Lopez, Guzman and their two small children getting into a car and then visiting shopping centers in Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa, police said.
The couple was detained after they met with a potential customer in Santa Rosa. Detectives found two ounces of heroin on Lopez and four ounces of the drug and more than $1,400 in cash inside Guzman's purse.
Their children were temporarily taken into protective custody and later released to family members.
A search of the couple's home on Stuart Drive uncovered two pounds of heroin and an additional $1,000 in cash, as well as packaging, scales and notes related to drug trafficking, authorities said.
Both were booked at Sonoma County Jail on possession for sale of heroin, transportation of heroin and conspiracy to distribute heroin.
TARGET EMPLOYEE HELD IN EMBEZZLEMENT: Daly City police arrested a Target employee for embezzlement, authorities said.
The employee, a 20-year-old South San Francisco resident, allegedly rang up certain items and bagged others without scanning them, police said.
The merchandise was worth about $3,000, investigators said.
The employee was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and conspiracy, while the worker's friend, a 20-year-old San Francisco resident, was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting and conspiracy.