Police seized about 100 pounds of dried marijuana and another 100 marijuana plants at two apartments in San Francisco's Laurel Heights neighborhood Monday night, and arrested two men allegedly involved with the operation.
The arrests and marijuana seizure were the result of a weeks-long investigation that culminated when officers served a search warrant at an apartment at 3306 California St. around 5 p.m., San Francisco police Officer Samson Chan said.
The investigation was expected to continue throughout the night, according to Chan, though he declined to state whether additional search warrants would be served.
During the search of 3306 California St., police also discovered marijuana in 3302, located in the same two-story, eight-unit building at the corner of Walnut Street, San Francisco police Sgt. Chris Breen said.
Officers arrested two men during the search. One of the men was taken out of the apartment building, handcuffed, around 10 p.m. and placed into a police car.
The strong odor of marijuana lingered in the air as officers removed the plants and equipment, including lights and fans, and placed the items into two pickup trucks parked outside after the man was taken into custody.
Neighbors walking their dogs or coming home with bags of groceries stopped to watch but none stayed long. Two neighbors, who said they live in the building next door, said they were surprised to learn marijuana was growing on their block.
The building's garage remained open throughout the removal, displaying large ducting along the ceiling.
Chan said the street value of the marijuana seized was about $350,000.
"It was a criminal enterprise," he said, adding that it appeared the suspects had tried to dispose of some of the marijuana when police initially arrived.
The investigation is ongoing.
Detective Holler said Schipsi's best friend was one of the last people to have contact with her before she died.
The friend said Schipsi failed to show up to take him to a doctor's appointment on Oct. 15, and his calls went directly to voicemail that morning.
When he sent a text message, Schipsi's response was a duplicate of a message from the previous night, Holler said.
Schipsi and Zumot appeared to have gotten into an altercation on Oct. 14 following a birthday celebration for Zumot at Dishdash Restaurant in Sunnyvale, according to police Capt. Scott Savage.
Zumot's business partner and former best friend, a Monterey County sheriff's deputy named Joe Martinez, said Zumot sent him a text message on Oct. 15 recounting the birthday party, according to Savage.
In one of the text messages, Zumot said he had told Schipsi to shut up and that she had then walked home alone.
Later that day, he sent Martinez another text message saying he had proposed to Schipsi, Savage said.
When Martinez spoke with Zumot on the phone later, he said Zumot said there was a fire at his home and seemed panicked. He sounded scared and concerned that he had not heard from Schipsi since that morning, according to Savage.
Schipsi also alluded to an argument or fight on Oct. 14 in text messages she sent to a mutual male friend who was invited to the birthday party but did not show up, Savage said.
In one message, she said, "Someone can (sic) handle me sending messages to you," followed by, "I just had my phone thrown at me."
Schipsi later spoke with that friend on the phone and told him that after the party, she was in the car with Zumot and his brother and that she left the car and walked the rest of the way home, Savage said.
The friend said he asked Schipsi why Zumot was upset with him the next morning after repeatedly calling Zumot and not hearing from him.
Schipsi responded that Zumot was drunk.
The preliminary hearing will continue Tuesday.
