[420 Girl]

Four men were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of taking 23 marijuana plants from a backyard garden off Valley West Drive in west Santa Rosa.

The homeowner had a permit to grow the plants legally for medicinal use.

Witnesses in the neighborhood said they saw several men climbing a fence around the Jose Avenue home just before 1 p.m., then hauling the freshly cut plants to a car parked nearby.

Residents in the home said they had seen the men before.

“We had been seeing people circle the neighborhood for about a week,” said one of the residents who asked not to be named. “Either they sniffed it out or had seen it.”

The four suspects were taken into custody after police interrupted the theft, said Sgt. Steve Fraga.

Greg Cibrian, 20; Victor Raul Marin Coria, 19; Lloyd Melvin Fouche, 20; and Hector Said Magana, 22, all of Santa Rosa, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft, conspiracy and possession of marijuana.

All four of the men are known gang members, Fraga said.

A fifth suspect dropped several pounds of freshly harvested marijuana at the corner of Jose Avenue and Josefa Street and fled. Police searched the area, but did not find him, Fraga said.

The stolen plants were found in the trunk of a 1994 Cadillac sedan, as were gardening shears used to cut the plants, Fraga said.

Residents said the 4-foot-tall plants were four to six weeks away from harvest and were being grown to assist a family member suffering from knee and back pain after several operations.

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