6 arrested after search at Encinitas home

Six people were arrested after the Encinitas Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, in the 1500 block of Rancho Encinitas Drive.

For the past year, neighbors have complained of suspicious and illegal drug activity at the home, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard George.

“It has a history of a being a drug house,” George said, adding the home has been a problem for years.

This led the Encinitas Sheriff’s Department to obtain a search warrant for the 3,500-square-foot home.

For officer safety, a Sheriff’s special enforcement detail deployed tear gas into the home. Then, the Sheriff’s detail swept the house, George said.

Five people were detained and later arrested. The sixth person, Anastasia Kirkeby, was found in a hidden room behind a bookcase and later arrested for establishing a drug house and carrying an unauthorized weapon, according to a press release.

The others arrested: Jeremy Dinwiddie (felony warrant, stalking), Jessica Wilkenson (possession of heroin) and Jeremy Henry (accessory to a crime and possession of a controlled substance). Paul Povency and John Switzer were each arrested on the charge of being an accessory to a crime.

The investigation is ongoing.