San Francisco man arrested in pot grow

TNT commander Craig Davis winds through marijuana plants in a green house next to the Big Oak Flat home where 200 plants were found. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat, copyright 2009

TNT agents and Sheriff’s Office deputies donning Kevlar vests and carrying various firearms entered the property at 20111 Cherokee Trail, off Second Garrotte, at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
  

They surrounded the home and called out: “Sheriff’s Department. Search Warrant. Demand Entry,” several times before entering the 1,900-square-foot, two-story home.

A search of the house and grounds uncovered more than 200 marijuana plants in outside grow stations, said TNT Commander Sgt. Craig Davis. An intricate system of water pipes was installed on the property and even included two large water tanks and a 20,000-gallon plastic water bladder, he said.

Roads and trails had been constructed with a tractor found on the property, and a creek was dammed up.

An indoor marijuana grow area was found in the basement but it was vacant except one plant, Davis said.

A trailer on the property contained grow lights and air filtration fans, he added.

Davis said TNT agents observed marijuana gardens Tuesday while on a patrol flight over Groveland.

Agents used a global positioning system to pinpoint the gated property on Cherokee Trail and later approached neighbors, said Detective Eric Erhardt.

Erhardt said the neighbors indicated they did not know the property owner’s name, but said he was a man from San Francisco driving a black Chevrolet Tahoe SUV.

“It just so happened as we left we saw dust and saw a black Chevy Tahoe registered out of San Francisco,” Erhardt said.

The SUV was stopped at the bottom of Priest Grade at Highway 120 on a traffic violation, Davis said.

The driver, Bart Stone Lewis, 37, of the 300 block of Santa Clara Avenue, San Francisco, was arrested on suspicion of cultivating marijuana, Davis said.

Lewis was booked into Tuolumne County Jail at 9:17 p.m. Tuesday and was later released on $30,000 bail, jail officials said.

Lewis had receipts in his vehicle for more than $30,000 worth of hydroponic supplies, Davis said. Hydroponics allow plants to be grown without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions.

Davis said agents also found inside Lewis’ vehicle hand-drawn diagrams of the marijuana garden.

Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge Eleanor Provost signed a search warrant in the early hours Wednesday, but she did not approve night service so agents had to wait until 7 a.m. to proceed.    

TNT agents and Tuolumne County Sheriff’s deputies spent Tuesday night and early Wednesday staking out the property.

Lewis, a screen printer, never claimed ownership of the 40-acre property, Erhardt said.

However, Tuolumne County Assessor records show a Bart Lewis, of San Francisco, is the property owner.

“He’s got enough water for thousands of plants. Some people water one gallon per plant, per day,” said Detective Jarrod Pippin.

Lewis will likely face cultivation charges and possibly charges related to the road and creek damage, Davis said.

TNT agents will investigate other men named on paperwork found throughout the property and home, Davis said.

“TNT is on a never-ending crusade to rid narcotics offenders from the neighborhoods and community of Tuolumne County,” he said.