MADERA COUNTY – Two men are behind bars – one for stealing a truck, and the other, his roommate, for cultivation.
An early morning call for service sent Deputy Darrell Swengel to Road 30 ½. A prowler could be heard lurking in the neighborhood.
The Deputy couldn’t find a prowler, but he did see a truck parked near a vacant house. A check on the truck showed it was registered to someone other than the driver, 32-year old Brian Ray Wiseman of Madera, who claimed he had borrowed it from his roommate.
Swengel detained Wiseman while Deputy Jeff Thomas went to the residence on Avenue 20 ½ to make contact with the registered owner, 33-year old Roy Franklin Blackmon.
Blackmon told the deputy he never gave Wiseman consent to use the truck, so Wiseman was arrested.
But losing his truck was the least of Blackmon’s worries. He too ended up going to jail, booked for cultivation of marijuana.
When Deputy Thomas arrived at the home, he immediately smelled the pungent odor of marijuana. 
Two hundred plants worth an estimated half million dollars, along with a gallon-sized bag filled with processed marijuana, were seized.
