East County man accused of trading goods homeless shoplifted for fentanyl – NBC 7 San Diego
Two Santee residents were behind bars Wednesday after a police investigation, with at least one of them accused of supplying fentanyl to homeless people in El Cajon, either by selling the drug to them outright or bartering it for stolen property.
Samantha Nicole Ekiss, 32, and her roommate, 44-year-old Jeremy Wayne Ketchum, were arrested Monday following a two-month investigation, according to the El Cajon Police Department. They were booked into county jail on a multitude of charges.
During a search of the pair’s residence and a self-storage unit rented by Ketchum, officers found about three-quarters of a pound of fentanyl, a half-ounce of methamphetamine, suspected stolen property, several thousand dollars in cash and hundreds of rounds of illegally possessed ammunition, ECPD Lt. Will Guerin said.
Three months ago, Ekiss was jailed on suspicion of possessing fentanyl for sale and was released on bond pending court proceedings.
“The intersection of homelessness, drug abuse and retail theft continues to plague our communities,” El Cajon Police Chief Mike Moulton said Wednesday. “Once again, ineffective theft laws in California fail to hold thieves accountable, and misguided harm-reduction strategies simply exacerbate drug abuse.”
