An intricate partnership between the Nevada County Sheriff's Office and Grass Valley Police Department resulted in arrests and drug firearm seizures this past week. According to a Facebook post by the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, two individuals, Kalen Turner of Nevada City, and Katriena Mulligan of Grass Valley, faced serious charges following a well-timed intervention by law enforcement on the afternoon of June 3, 2025.
The sequence of events unfolded as Deputy Ramos, accompanying her K9 partner “Riggs,” took note of a suspicious vehicle at a carwash on E. Main Street. The car, recognizable from previous investigations of drug and property crimes in Nevada County, did not engage in the expected activity of the locale. Instead, it served as a prelude to a suspected transaction between Turner and Mulligan, who shortly met at a business on Hughes Road. The law enforcement officials, including GVPD officers, observed a "hand-to-hand" exchange between the two suspects after several minutes of surveillance, Nevada County Sheriff's Office stated.
With probable cause established, Ramos with the assistance of GVPD officers, moved in for an enforcement stop. Upon their approach, visible narcotics and drug paraphernalia prompted a search of the vehicles. This search resulted in the discovery of fentanyl, packaging materials, and a scale suggestive of drug sales in Turner’s possession. K9 Riggs, a dog certified in narcotics detection, further alerted to narcotics in each vehicle, and remarkably, to contraband stashed in the engine compartment of Turner's car - a handgun and 90 rounds of ammunition, as obtained by the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.
The involvement of K9 Riggs was instrumental in uncovering the cache of illegal items. Turner, facing the added pressure of charges linked to his status as a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition, finds himself contending with the added weight of Proposition 36 violations — a 2024 initiative targeting repeat offenders. Both suspects were booked at the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office expressing their "gratitude to the Grass Valley Police Department for their partnership in this investigation."
