Warrants show early morning searches in College Station focused on ’high-level’ drug dealer

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – The principal suspect in four, early morning searches by College Station police on Feb. 8 was a “high-level drug dealer” who has not been arrested, records show.

College Station police returned four warrants to the College Station Municipal Court on Monday, offering a clearer picture of the case that led to those searches, which left one person dead in an officer-involved shooting.

College Station Municipal Court Judge Ed Spillane signed all four warrants. He told KBTX that search warrants are required by law to be returned no later than three days after execution, meaning Monday was the final day for police to make the warrants available as public record.

Police previously disclosed searches on Greens Prairie Rd, Tranquil Path Drive, and Spring Loop to KBTX, but a fourth search at a storage facility in the 1700 block of Early Rudder Freeway is also detailed in the newly released records.

We also learned in Monday’s records dump that the warrant issued for Greens Prairie Road was executed as a “No Knock” warrant. Police previously said the Spring Loop warrant was a “Knock and Announce” warrant but were not specifically questioned about the warrants executed elsewhere.

The warrants detail at least four accused “co-conspirators” in the case, in addition to the “high-level” dealer. Those include Scott and Leslie Siddons, who were arrested on Feb. 8, as well as a woman who lived with the drug dealer and another woman with whom police believe he shared a romantic relationship.

College Station police said Monday that the drug dealer was a suspect, but is not currently wanted by police. For legal reasons, KBTX has opted not to disclose the names of any parties listed only as a suspect, including the suspected dealer at the center of the investigation, before they are officially identified as wanted persons by police or arrested and charged.

Mark Hopkins, who was killed by police after they say he fired a shotgun in their direction during the service of the search warrant on Spring Loop, is not named in the warrants as a co-conspirator or in the commission of any crime.

Hopkins is identified in the documents as having the utilities for the Spring Loop address in his name and is briefly mentioned in a warrant as exchanging money on Venmo with the drug dealer and his girlfriend, who is assumed in the documents to be Hopkins’s roommate.

KBTX has reached out to College Station police for clarification on that mention, as we believe his identification here (as “Said Suspected Party #2″) could have been made in error based on the timeline offered. They confirmed that Hopkins was not the focus of the execution of the search warrant, but did not elaborate further.

In a search warrant, police identify Mark Hopkins at Suspected Party #2 and suggest he received money from an accused drug dealer. Hopkins was not included elsewhere in the analysis. Police have not clarified whether Hopkins was included in error.

A Long-Term Drug Investigation

In the warrants, College Station police say they began investigating the accused drug dealer at the center of the investigation back in August 2019 as a dealer of marijuana by the ounce. He was also involved in a second narcotics investigation beginning in 2021, which identifies him as a dealer of fraudulent Percocet and Adderall.

Based on social media activity obtained from a November 2022 warrant, police say the drug dealer sold wholesale amounts of marijuana, THC cartridges, Xanax, THC concentrates, THC edibles, and Adderall.

The searches executed on Feb. 8 surround a home that police believe is the drug dealer’s residence, along with three “stash spots,” which police describe as common among “middle to high-level drug dealers.” In the warrants, police say the locations are “typically not the main residence of the drug dealer and [are] typically occupied by a friend, family member, or individual they are in a dating relationship with.” They further that stash spots generally aren’t related directly to a drug dealer legally, but they have free access to come and go from the locations without notice.

Public records show the drug dealer is originally from Dallas County but has resided at an address in Bryan-College Station since at least 2010. His only arrest or conviction publicly available was an August 2019 charge for Driving While Intoxicated, for which he paid a $1,500 fine and $410 in court costs. He studied at Cedar Valley and Navarro junior colleges before enrolling at Blinn College in 2012. He has been a student at Blinn on multiple occasions since then, enrolling as recently as January.

In September 2022, police also executed a search warrant on a car belonging to the drug dealer that was authorized by Judge John Brick of the 272nd District Court. Documents released Monday don’t detail the results of that effort, but KBTX has filed an open records request to review the original warrant.

A No-Knock Warrant on Greens Prairie Road

The first warrant served by police on Feb. 8 was at 1775 Greens Prairie Road. Witnesses told KBTX the service took place just after 4:30 a.m.

Records show the warrant targeted the residence of Scott and Leslie Siddons due to their role “at the very least [as] co-conspirators” in a drug trafficking operation.

Scott Siddons was arrested on Feb. 8 and charged with manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana greater than 5 pounds – less than 50 pounds, and possession of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone because the Greens Prairie home is located near a school.

Leslie Siddons was charged with manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana greater than 5 pounds – less than 50 pounds.

College Station police sought and were granted special permission to search the Siddons’ home using a “No Knock” warrant, specifically because police argued they had “reasonable suspicion to believe that such knocking and announcing would be dangerous, futile, or would inhibit the effective investigation” of a crime.

Police explain that Scott Siddons’ criminal record and the involvement of Scott and Leslie Siddons in a “‘Road Rage’ style incident” where Scott Siddons brandished an AR-15 after someone kicked his vehicle as evidence of his “propensity for violence.” They also cite the likelihood of Siddons keeping a firearm in “close proximity” due to his work in drug sales, his history of resisting arrest, the proximity of schools to the home, and the tactical advantage of the home’s position as justifications for the escalated warrant.

Police say they had previously observed the drug dealer at the center of the investigation using the Siddons’ home as a “stash location” and believed he had “unrestricted access.” Police further that both Scott and Leslie Siddons had been observed interacting with the drug dealer while he visited the home, where he often left with bags and boxes before stopping at other residences in a pattern police call “consistent with drug sales.”

On two occasions, police also say they observed the drug dealer traveling to locations in Waller County and returning to the home on Greens Prairie with bags and boxes consistent with narcotics trafficking.

College Station police also searched trash at the home in November 2022 and found THC cartridges and other evidence linking the home to a search of trash at the drug dealer’s home, located just over two miles away on Tranquil Path Drive. Police also found numerous deposit slips for transactions at a local bank and several prescriptions in their search of the garbage.

During the February search of the home on Greens Prairie Road, records say police seized:

Ruger Security 9Firearm accessories and ammunitionDrug paraphernaliaSamsung cell phoneApple iPhoneU.S. currencyMarijuanaPsilocybin mushroomsAlprazolamTHCAmphetamine

Jail records show both Scott and Leslie Siddons remain in the Brazos County Jail.

The Accused Dealer’s Home: Tranquil Path Drive

Police believe the drug dealer’s primary residence is located in the 3900 block of Tranquil Path Drive. Police connected him to the home through College Station Utilities.

According to the warrant, a second suspect also resides at the home and is named in the warrant as a “co-conspirator” in the “criminal enterprise.” A third suspect is listed as sharing a “dating relationship” with the drug dealer and having lived with him in the past, though she is not clearly listed as a resident of Tranquil Path.

Police say the drug dealer had been seen leaving the home and traveling to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and to “numerous” locations in Brazos County where he conducted “short stay traffic” that are identified as “consistent with street-level drug sales.”

During the Feb. 8 search of the home on Tranquil Path, records say police seized:

Drug paraphernaliaDrug packaging materialIndiciaFirearm accessories and ammunitionSpringfield XD .40MarijuanaSildenafil citrateTestosteroneAlprazolamAdderallUnknown white pillsTHCPsilocybin mushroomsLSD

An Additional “Stash House”: Spring Loop Drive

The third warrant served by police on Feb. 8 covered a single-story townhome in the 900 block of Spring Loop identified as a “stash location.”

As the warrant was executed, police shot and killed 22-year-old Mark Hopkins, after they say he fired a shotgun after they entered the residence. College Station police confirmed Monday evening that they did force entry to the home “after knocking and announcing ‘police, search warrant’ numerous times.” A police spokesperson furthered that police “gave the residents several opportunities to answer the door but after no answer, they breached the door and continued to announce their presence as police officers saying ‘police, search warrant.’”

The drug dealer is again listed as the primary suspect on the warrant. He is followed by Hopkins, who is identified as the utility holder for the property. Hopkins is only mentioned again later in a paragraph discussing Venmo and Cash App transactions but is not accused as a conspirator or of any wrongdoing.

The warrant also names the drug dealer’s girlfriend as a resident and part of a “criminal conspiracy to promote the distribution of drugs and the laundering of money from these drug sales.”

A second woman is also named on the suspect list but, like Hopkins, is not accused of any crime.

Police say the drug dealer was routinely seen coming and going from the home on Spring Loop and conducting “traffic consistent with drug sales.” The warrant also details trips he took to both Dallas and Houston before returning to the home on Spring Loop with packages he’d retrieved.

The warrant details Venmo and Cash app transactions at length, primarily between the drug dealer and the woman identified as his girlfriend. In total, police say the drug dealer received nearly $31,000 between September and November of 2022.

In the warrant, police also appear to say the drug dealer would send money to Hopkins (identified as “Said Suspected Party #2″). Police say the drug dealer’s girlfriend would then transfer that money to her bank account. No information is given about how the money was transferred from Hopkins to the drug dealer’s girlfriend and Hopkins is not named anywhere else in the document. KBTX has reached out to College Station police to clarify whether Hopkins’ inclusion was an error in filing the search warrant. They confirmed that Hopkins was not the focus of the execution of the search warrant, but did not elaborate further.

Of the three homes searched, police record having taken the smallest amount of evidence from the Spring Loop property. Records say police seized:

An HP laptopApple iPhoneDrug paraphernaliaMarijuana

An Undisclosed Fourth Search: The Storage Facility

A fourth search on Feb. 8 took place at a storage building located in the 1700 block of Earl Rudder Freeway.

The warrant for the facility lists only the drug dealer as an associated person of the property, saying he has been known to stop at the “stash location” before returning to other stash locations.

According to the warrant, a representative of the storage facility said the drug dealer actively rented the facility and “was not listed on the active rent rule due to it being a ‘favor.’”

Police had previously searched outside the facility with some success. In December 2022, a College Station police K9 detected the presence of narcotics odors at the storage facility.

During their Feb. 8 search, records say police seized:

Unknown brand AR-15 style rifleFirearm accessories and ammunitionLenovo Yoga 730 laptop and bagMarijuana

Unanswered Questions

College Station police have said little about the investigation since their Feb. 8 press conference and some clarifications by phone call and text message to KBTX.

No suspects or wanted persons have been named publicly by police, and no one has been identified as being arrested in connection with the investigation since Scott and Leslie Siddons were arrested on Feb. 8. Public records show no other parties listed in the warrants have been arrested since last week.

Police also declined to comment on the specifics surrounding the search of the Spring Loop townhome that left Mark Hopkins dead or his role in the investigation prior to that morning. Documents seem to suggest he was uninvolved in the criminal activity at the heart of the warrants, but don’t specifically exonerate him or the other roommate not named as a co-conspirator.

Officials say CSPD won’t release body camera footage of the officer-involved shooting to the public but did say Chief Billy Couch will review it with the Hopkins family.

Texas Rangers have also declined to comment on their investigation into the shooting beyond acknowledging it is ongoing.