The Oregonian
Friday, June 23, 2006
AIMEE GREEN
Infuriated that burglars swiped several pounds of marijuana from his Milwaukie home, Bradley John Poppino decided something had to be done. And it certainly wasn't going to involve the police.
Authorities on Thursday outlined what they say happened next:
Poppino went about setting a trap, figuring the bandits who'd left behind more than 50 of his marijuana plants would be back. He parked his car down the street, so it would look like no one was home, and enlisted the help of a neighbor, Andrew Paul Kester, to keep an eye out for intruders. And he sat down on his couch. And waited.
Three men eventually showed up, encountered Poppino and Kester and bolted. But Poppino, 43, and Kester, 27, tackled one of the men, Paul Abelino Canul, 18.
Canul said in an interview Thursday that he pulled a gun but that the men grabbed his weapon and dragged him back to Poppino's garage, where they duct-taped his wrists and ankles and kicked him to the floor.
Canul, who was in Clackamas County Jail on Thursday on $100,000 bail and charges of attempted burglary and unlawful possession of a weapon, described the next six hours as a harrowing ordeal. Poppino and Kester, also in jail under $250,000 bail and kidnapping charges, declined to comment.
According to Canul, the men threatened to hurt his family; forced him to call his friends and order them to return the stolen pot; and threatened to cut off a toe for each hour that went by without their marijuana returned. While using the phone, Canul covertly passed hints about his location.
When time passed without return of the marijuana, the men invited over a third man, who duct-taped Canul's eyes shut and threatened to use a chain saw to cut him into itty bitty pieces.
"He said: 'No body? No evidence,' " said Canul, referring to the rougher tone of the third man, whom police haven't identified. "I'm not a very religious guy, but I prayed."
Then, Canul said, he passed out.
When Canul awoke, he said the men were running out of energy. The yelling and the swearing had died down and then men started talking about ordering a pizza, Canul said. Then he heard a car pull up to the house.
"I think 'OK, maybe my homeys are here and they're going to knock some skulls, and we're going to get out of here,' " Canul recalled.
But it was Clackamas County sheriff's deputies, who were anonymously alerted to the situation. Police seized 50 marijuana plants from the home, more than seven times the limit allowed by the medical marijuana card that Poppino cited in his defense.
"It's a bit unusual when everyone involved is a victim and a defendant," said Chris Owen, the prosecutor handling the case.
Authorities have not determined whether the marijuana-growing operation was criminal, but Detective Jim Strovink, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said such scenarios are common in the drug underworld: Drug dealers know they are targets, and they're ready to retaliate.
Canul said although he's angry about the ordeal, he can't say he didn't have it coming.
"I'd be pretty mad if someone stole my pot," Canul said. "If I was in their shoes, I'd probably have done the same thing."
