Officers Find Marijuana Plants, Crack Cocaine and Stun Gun

(Editor's note: this article has been updated removing the homeowner's name as they provided Patch with paperwork showing their record was sealed).

After months of surveillance, SWAT team and members arrested five in connection with a drug operation involving the growth of marijuana plants in a Seekonk home. Police also allegedly found crack pipes, cocaine, fertilizers, Mexican mushrooms and bins of syringes at the home located on Back Street.

Kimberly Kempke, 46; Jacob Najas, 21, of 25 Catalpa St.; Sean Lauffer, 25, of 304 Lincoln St.; and Andrew Paulo, 24, of 11 Tee Jay Drive, were arrested. They were all charged with conspiracy to violate drug law, Class D controlled substances cultivation and Class D drug possession.

On Thursday, March 3, the Seekonk Police Department prepared to search the residence. Officers obtained a warrant from Taunton District Court. Lt. David Dyson instructed roads near the Back Street home be shut down at 10:12 p.m. to stop vehicles from driving in or out of the area. Officer Chalifoux monitored the residence for about an hour before additional officers positions themselves around the residence. Officer Shaun Kelley and Captain Craig Mace stopped a green Nissan that left the house.

According the report, after officers asked the driver for license and registration, it seemed as though he would not produce the documents; when he went through his papers, he would pause to ask the officers about the stop. During the first line of questioning, he reportedly kept the car in drive and made little attempt to locate his license, according to the report. When the officers asked him to provide the keys to the car, the driver reportedly found a temporary license that identified him as Jacob Najas. Officers placed belongings including his cell phone on the roof of the vehicle. He was monitored in the vehicle until the officers placed handcuffs on him and escorted him back to the Back Street home.

Before the Nissan could be towed, a canine reportedly sniffed the car and found an orange Nike shoe box containing two clear baggies of marijuana wedged between the back and front seat. The vehicle was transported to the Seekonk Police Station.

Over at the house, members of a SWAT team reportedly knocked on the door and announced, "police search warrant," waited 30 seconds, and then entered the unlocked front door of the house. According to a report written by Patrol Officer Christopher Kelly, he smelled a strong odor of marijuana. The officers then went into the basement and found the homeowner. He was placed into handcuffs and frisked for weapons by members of the SWAT team. Before leaving the area, Officer Kelly reportedly observed a large white sheet covering an illuminated compartment underneath the apartment's staircase. After unveiling the covering, he found a "substantial grow operation" including several marijuana plants and large lamps.

At the time of his arrest, the homeowner remained chatty. According to a report written by Sgt. Matthew Jardine, a bag containing marijuana sat next to the homeowner. Although no questions were being posed to him at the time, he referred to his marijuana as "his grow" that the officers "obviously found" and he was "selling out" of his bagged stash.

Officers also reportedly found a National Grid termination of electricity notice on top of a television stand. In other rooms, officers found baggies containing white residue believed to be cocaine and marijuana buds, crack pipes with residue, plastic containers holding marijuana brownies, large tin cans believed to possibly be Mexican mushroom agents next to a turtle tank, and fertilizers, grow lights and a High Times magazine. Police also found a stun gun found in a futon arm.

Lauffer was arrested after he pulled into the Back Street driveway during the investigation. His vehicle was taken to the Seekonk Police Station to be searched.

The homeowner was then transported to the Seekonk Police Department. There, he reportedly told officers he "did nothing wrong" because he could grow up to 50 pounds of marijuana. According to the report, he would then recite an unknown chapter of law in regard to his statement. There, he also denied selling marijuana from his residence but told officers that the bag of marijuana he sells is his to use personally and the plants were his "smoke stash." He also said he has not "sold pot" in quite awhile.

According to the report, he runs a website that is not lucrative. He then stated, "And if people did happen to kick me money to smoke some of my weed just to get high or whatever, or to help my site out, that might have been what happened. But if you noticed, you're not going to find any cash."

Officers questioned him to explain the large amount of vehicles that respond to his residence and then leave within a few minutes. The homeowner reportedly could not explain such behavior. Sgt. Matthew Jardine then gave the homeowner the opportunity to "come clean" and offer the truth about his involvement with the matters at hand. He reportedly became agitated.

"You found my plants, you found my bag of pot," he reportedly told officers. "I mean that's my confessional. I don't know what else to say." He then allegedly said he would provide information regarding other drug dealers as long as his statements were not recorded.

The homeowner's mother, was reportedly sitting in the upstairs living room at the time of the search. She allegedly showed the officer a plastic baggie containing marijuana on top of a television stand she got from her boyfriend that only contained "three joints." At the booking station, officers asked him if he knew of his mother's crack cocaine habit. He denied having any knowledge of it.

All five arrested were scheduled for arraignment at Taunton District Court on Friday, March 4, according to Captain Mace. They are scheduled for April pre-trial conferences. Because the house is located within 1,000 feet of the Newman YMCA which has a pre-school, he was charged with distribution of a Class D substance in a school zone.