ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Homeowners in one St. Augustine community were stunned Monday after learning deputies arrested one of their neighbors for growing a dozen marijuana plants inside his home for several years. How deputies found out about it, though, was even more surprising.
The suspected Grow House was discovered after investigators say the suspect tried to break into his neighbor’s house naked.
“I have a three-year-old and an older daughter, and that’s very scary,” said Heritage Landing resident Trisha O’Neal. “This is not the neighborhood that you expect this in whatsoever.”
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
According to the St. John Sheriff’s office, on April 15th, deputies responded to a burglary in progress at a home in Swallowtail Lane. SJSO says that residents of a home were awakened by a naked man striking their doors and windows with a large wooden branch.
Deputies later identified the suspect as 44-year-old Alejandro Barzaga. SJSO took him into custody and learned that the suspect lived nearby.
When they got to the suspect’s house, Deputies say they found evidence of a large marijuana grow operation.
While executing a search warrant, SJSO says detectives located 3 firearms, $85,000 in U.S. Currency, 22 pounds of Psilocybin Mushrooms, 3 pounds of Marijuana, 12 mature Marijuana plants, 17 grams of Ketamine, and more.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Trisha O’Neal lives nearby in the neighborhood. She says she had no idea something like this was going on.
“I’m shocked because we’ve been in this neighborhood for about four years and I know roughly everyone on this street,” said O’Neal. “We’re friendly, we say hi, it’s a family neighborhood, but I’ve never seen him before. I know he has a window tinting business and he literally drives his van into the garage, closes it and we never see him.”
O’Neal tells me that despite this incident, she does feel safe living in her neighborhood. According to SJSO, Barzaga has bonded out of jail.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
