By Dennis Kaiser
Dana Point News
(Owned by the O.C. Register)
The diligent surveillance and swift action of the Albertson's employees struck again last week, and this time, what started as a simple shoplifting revealed a suspect in felony crimes. Deputy Sandra Kirsch had 19-year-old Cassandra Woods of Escondido, California, in custody after Woods had been Pepper Sprayed for resisting arrest and threatening the store's security staff. She had allegedly taken $12 worth of cosmetics without paying for them.
"I was told she was saying something about that she was going to shoot the security people," said Lt. Paul Ratchford, chief of Dana Point Police Services. While searching Woods' purse for a weapon, Kirsch discovered marijuana and methamphetamine. "She also lied to Deputy Kirsch about her name, which is against the law," Ratchford said. "She said she had hitchhiked from Escondido."
However, Kirsch became suspicious of the Toyota keys in Woods' purse. They happened to fit the only Toyota, a pickup truck, in the Albertson's parking lot. It turned out to be a stolen vehicle. Inside the truck was a large pile of stolen mail from San Clemente and Dana Point, along with 20 stolen credit cards. Owners of the stolen mail are being notified. Woods is facing charges for possession of marijuana, two misdemeanors for shoplifting and false identification, and numerous felony charges for car theft, drugs, stolen mail, and possession of stolen credit cards, cellular phones, and clothing. Woods said she had two other accomplices, but refused to cooperate with deputies.
(WFI EDITOR: It is vital for average people to understand that the prohibition against widely used drugs like marijuana, has a reverse effect by forcing law-abiding people to do business with the criminal underground to sustain their supply of drugs. No amount of preaching will change this underlying dynamic, especially when the causes of drug addiction are not taken into consideration. When non-criminals are forced to share the same fate as hard-core criminals, it has the end effect of radicalizing a vast segment of the population, whose sentiments are deliberately shut out of the mass media).