Thanks to SPD and K-9 Officer Zeke, a significant amount of Fentanyl has been removed from the streets.
During a traffic stop around 10 pm last Thursday on Riverside drive near Safeway, Officers spotted various drug items behind the driver’s seat, prompting officers to retrieve K-9 Zeke to walk around the vehicle. Zeke immediately alerted for drugs on the passenger side of the stopped car. A search revealed there were over 16 grams of suspected fentanyl lying on the floor of the car, with another nearly 9 grams on the driver, identified as 46-year-old Robert Fitzgerald of Litchfield. Both Fitzgerald and his passenger, 38-year-old Ashlee Richardson of Susanville, were arrested for having a controlled substance for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia. Fitzgerlad was also in violation of his probation.
The Susanville Police Department is investigating.
According to Interim Chief Bollinger, incidents like this are on the rise, noting it is early for the year, yet officers with the police department have been saturating the streets, and plans to immerse officers in more training this year are set to bolster the department’s productivity.
