West Haven police: 600 marijuana plants found behind day care center

Authorities allegedly discovered an estimate 600 marijuana plants in the backyard of a daycare center. Authorities allegedly discovered an estimate 600 marijuana plants in the backyard of a daycare center. Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close West Haven police: 600 marijuana plants found behind day care center 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

WEST HAVEN >> A city day care has had its license revoked after denying inspectors access to a backyard where police later allegedly discovered approximately 600 marijuana plants. The marijuana was growing in a fenced area behind the Norfolk Street property.

According to a release by West Haven police spokesman Sgt. David Tammaro, state inspectors conducting a compliance inspection on the facility Friday first discovered the plants. Police officers executed a warrant on the property and officers from the Police Department’s Street Crime Unit arrived and also saw the plants in a newly fenced area.

According to Tammaro, the plants were approximately 6 to 10 feet tall.

Tammaro said city housing inspectors shut the facility down, and it has had its license revoked. He said arrests will be forthcoming, but no suspects were named.

Maggie Adair, a spokeswoman for the Office of Early Childhood, which houses the Division of Licensing, said the suspension of the day care’s license is unrelated to the criminal investigation.

Inspectors found minor violations some time in the spring while conducting an annual inspection, Adair said, and crafted a corrective action plan to remedy the violations. During a follow-up visit Friday, inspectors found the high fences with a lock on the gate in the backyard. Inspectors are required to inspect the entire property during a visit, Adair said, and so they asked for the fenced area to be unlocked.

“They were denied access, so licensing inspectors were a little concerned and left the premises and called police,” Adair said.

Later that afternoon, inspectors issued the day care a summary suspension for denying access to the fenced area, requiring the provider to cease operations immediately.

The department does not involve itself in criminal investigations, she said.

Adair said the provider will have an opportunity to appeal the department’s decision in a September hearing with an independent hearing officer. If the provider does not cease care, that is a violation and they would be fined $100 per day, she said.

Greg Smith, a resident of Norfolk Street for 10 years, said he and his neighbors were surprised by the news.

“This is a pretty quiet street. We’re all working families, and our kids went to school together,” he said. “It’s just not heard of on this street.”

Smith said neither he nor his neighbors suspected anything.

“It’s a shock to us all, and if you’re running a day care, it’s the last thing you should be doing,” he said.