Public Safety
Pair Suspected of Selling Concentrated Cannabis to Temecula Valley Minors
MURRIETA (CNS) – Felony charges are expected to be filed Wednesday against an 18-year-old woman suspected of dealing marijuana with her boyfriend to students at schools throughout the Temecula Valley.
Catherine Ann Hickisch of Murrieta was arrested Friday with 18-year- old Anthony Harry Mathisen, also of Murrieta, on suspicion of possession of controlled substances for sale and using a minor for the distribution of narcotics.
Hickisch was booked into the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, where she’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail. Mathisen was booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, but he was able to post a $1 million bond Saturday, after which he was released from custody.
The case is under review by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Perez, last month, deputies out of the Southwest Station in French Valley initiated an investigation stemming from information that cannabis "was being sold to juveniles who attend middle and high schools throughout the city of Temecula and unincorporated French Valley."
Investigators determined that Hickisch and Mathisen were allegedly selling "vape pens containing concentrated cannabis to minors," Perez said.
"Furthermore, it was determined Mathisen and Hickisch distributed concentrated cannabis and psilocybin — commonly referred to as mushrooms — using a mobile delivery service, identified as `AtomicClouds," the sergeant said.
Deputies obtained and served search warrants at the suspects’ residence in the area of Madison Avenue and Murrieta Hot Springs Road, where "evidence related to the sales of marijuana and psilocybin was located and recovered," Perez said.
The suspects were taken into custody without incident.
Background information on them was unavailable.
Anyone with information relevant to the investigation was urged to contact investigators at 951-696-3000.
Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.
By: Pristine Villarreal
March 7, 2023