A Juneau man escaped authorities in a small boat Friday as city police, Alaska State Troopers and federal officers raided his house and found 141 marijuana plants and enough dried pot to fill a 55-gallon garbage bag.
The man, whose name police won't release, was already in a skiff near his Juneau home on Dock Street when officers arrived Friday afternoon, said Lt. Kris Sell, who was supervising the Juneau Police Department officers in the operation.
Along the way, authorities had already stopped the man's girlfriend and she or someone else may have tipped him off to the raid, Sell said in a phone interview Saturday.
"We have a sergeant with JPD standing on the shore, yelling at him," Sell said. "He yells an obscenity and then leaves in the skiff. I don't know if he's still on the water, if he has snuck back to the house because the house is near the water -- where he might be at this point."
(The obscenity hurled by the man, Sell clarified, was "F--- you.")
The U.S. Coast Guard ultimately sent a patrol boat in search of the man but hasn't found him yet, Sell said.
She added that the man wasn't considered dangerous or violent but she said authorities still want to talk to him.
"Somebody in a skiff in Alaska can rush out and get themselves into trouble," she said. "This is about marijuana -- it's not worth getting hurt over. Come and face the music."
Alaskans voted to legalize recreational marijuana use last year but people can only possess up to six plants at a time, three of which can be mature. Juneau police said in a press release that they were investigating the man for possession of more than 25 marijuana plants, a felony.
Sell said the the search of the man's house came after a "reliable tip," but she wouldn't reveal additional details.
Authorities found the marijuana plants growing in various stages, from seedlings to plants 3 feet high, according to the press release.
Officers also found a handgun, a bulletproof vest, cash and "elaborate growing equipment," including lights and inverters. A surveillance system with cameras was linked to a computer in the man's living room.
The home is in an area of Juneau that sits next to Auke Bay. Sell said it wouldn't have been hard to track the man down but added, "Of course, when you go to serve a search warrant on a house, you don't have a boat ready."
"With a small skiff, you can put in anywhere," she said. "If somebody wants to hide, they may be difficult to find for a while."