By Max Fontaine | Wants to retire soon

One person was arrested early Saturday on charges of botanical theft and indirect association with illicit substances.

Officers from Bass Lake Authority Police were dispatched just after 2 a.m. to the 2 block of Alley Avenue, where a homeowner had witnessed a male subject stealing a potted plant from her yard, then fleeing.

The homeowner was able to obtain a description and knew the direction the man was headed. A short time later, police located the man, who refused to cooperate and resisted arrest. After a 12-second struggle, he was taken into custody.

During follow-up investigation, a small amount of a suspected methamphetamine-like substance was located a block away from the scene.

The stolen plant may not be salvageable, said the homeowner, and is “possibly deceased.”

This marks the ninth documented case of a crime involving plant-destruction in Bass Lake in the past 45 years.

“It’s becoming an epidemic of epidemic proportions,” said BLAP chief Tug McNabb.