Ultralight flight results in trip to jail
News Release
Friday, July 30, 2010
Media contact: Joy Hill, 352-258-3426
A couple of Brevard County men were arrested Friday
while tending their two marijuana plants on a palm island on the
St. Johns River Conservation Area in Volusia County. A Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) investigator who was
working on nearby Seminole Ranch Conservation Area, just off State
Road 46 spotted them around 9 a.m.
The investigator watched the men land in an
ultralight plane on dry, sandy ground near the island, get off the
plane and walk around the island among the palm trees. As he
watched them, the investigator thought their activities looked
suspicious, so he stealthily made his way to their location and was
there waiting for them when they came out.
Ronald Paul Thorstad, (DOB 09/07/56) of 30 N.
Holiday Lane, Titusville, and owner of ultralight plane, was
arrested for cultivation of cannabis ($10,000 bond) and possession
of a firearm while in commission of a felony ($5,000 bond), both of
which are third-degree felonies; and use of paraphernalia ($500
bond), a first-degree misdemeanor.
James L. Nordby, (DOB 03/20/43), 3307 Norfolk St.,
Mims, was arrested for cultivation of cannabis and use of
paraphernalia. Both men were booked into Volusia County
Jail.
FWC officers took the plants and paraphernalia into
evidence.
Persons with Disabilities