South County : Pair Mystify Officers by Dumping Marijuana

When Officer Jim Perry of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department saw two men dumping what looked like trash into a ditch off Black Star Canyon Road, he went over to cite them for illegal dumping.

But sheriff’s officials later discovered that the two men weren’t dumping trash at all, but rather 200 pounds of low-grade marijuana worth about $80,000 on the street.

“We can’t figure it out. Why would they get rid of something that might be valuable to them?” said sheriff’s spokesman Dick Olson.

The two men arrested on suspicion of transporting marijuana were James W. Davey Jr., 38, of San Juan Capistrano, and Dallas H. Candy Jr., 42, of Anaheim. Both said they were unemployed. Candy listed his occupation as a nurse, and Davey told police he was a plumber.

Both were booked into the Orange County Jail on $10,000 bail each.

Olson said the men were dumping the marijuana in plastic bags and cardboard boxes.

“It doesn’t appear they were leaving it for anyone--they were just throwing it out,” Olson said.

Unfortunately, he said, the two men have refused to explain what they were doing and why.

The dumping took place just 200 yards west of Silverado Road in a rural area, Olson said.