Ohio sheriff responds after raid over alleged illegal marijuana plants

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Three days after a raid that the Greene County property owner said was unjustified , the county sheriff has responded.

On Tuesday at 3 p.m., Chris Thompson felt his entire home shake. When he stepped outside, he found a Greene County Sheriff’s Office helicopter hovering above his property.

Greene County Sheriff Scott Anger said the helicopter had been looking for illegal marijuana growing.

“What we did Tuesday was not new,” said Greene County Sheriff Scott Anger. “The only thing that was new is the law.”

Anger said that Thompson was not in compliance with Ohio’s recreational marijuana law, which allows up to 12 plants on a property either stored and covered in a greenhouse or properly secured.

“A lot of this was about education,” said Anger. “It was about letting the public know that we do care about these issues. We do care about the quality of life. We do care about the access of marijuana to kids.

“We’re not trying to infringe on anybody’s right to do what they’re doing. But we do care about the quality of life, and we do care about keeping control over the issue and making sure that our all of our property owners and citizens are protected.”

Thompson said that after the search did not find his plants to be out of violation of the law, the officers left with no explanation for the overwhelming police presence. He said more than two dozen officers showed up at his property.

Anger said that’s standard protocol.

“When we go into those, we don’t know what we’re going to find,” said Anger. “Sometimes it’s a group of people that go from one area to another. So the amount of people there is just for safety.”

Thompson said the incident was traumatic, and he wants law enforcement and people to advance.

“Ohio needs to do better. We need to do better,” said Thompson. “We can’t enforce restrictions on things that have already been deemed legal . Making criminals out of law-abiding citizens is not something that Ohio should or should do or condone.”

Anger attributes the raid to an incompatibility between what Thompson was doing and what is allowed by law.

The sheriff said the helicopter scanning for illegal marijuana plants was a yearly effort between his office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, using federal Drug Enforcement Agency funding.

The manager of the Village of Yellow Springs said that he has called for a meeting with the sheriff’s office to discuss the incident.

Anger said that if you have any additional questions, reach out to your local police department or sheriff’s office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.