Drug use rips family apart; they call their arrests a blessing
Couple deny accusations they manufactured methamphetamines
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Curtis Fay had everything going for him. He was newly married and had a baby son. He owned a plumbing company and business was good.

But once acquaintances introduced Fay to methamphetamines, he quickly began to lose his professional reputation and his possessions, and his family life began to fall apart.

"Drugs took my life over," Fay said.

In a warning to others about how drug use can devastate families, Curtis and Alyssa Fay decided to share their personal story of tragedy and its aftermath with the Acorn Newspapers.

"I want to help other people realize that addiction will sneak up on you and there's a lot to lose. You hurt people around you more than you think," Curtis said.

His young wife, Alyssa, also started to use methamphetamines, though much later than Curtis.

"She was innocent until I brought the wrong people into her life," Curtis said with remorse.

Both Curtis and Alyssa grew up in Thousand Oaks. Curtis' mother died when he was 10 years old, and his father wasn't around. Curtis grew up without much adult guidance, said Alyssa's grandfather Tom Vlachos, who remains supportive despite Curtis' mistakes.

Busted Curtis, 37, and 21-year-old Alyssa were arrested at their Moorpark home last summer. Curtis was accused of operating a methamphetamine lab in the house on Marquette Street and was charged with being under the influence of methamphetamines and possessing related drug paraphernalia.

Both Curtis and Alyssa were charged with child endangerment, and each went to jail for about two months.

The Fays lost custody of their baby son, Michael, who was taken by county children's services and placed in the care of Alyssa's parents.

Once released from jail, Alyssa and Michael went to an inpatient treatment program for 60 days. The baby remained with Alyssa's parents in Thousand Oaks pending a custody hearing in March.

Both Curtis and Alyssa are in outpatient treatment programs now, they said.

Arrest turns to rescue

A recovering alcoholic who's been sober on and off throughout his adult life, Curtis began taking methamphetamines about three years ago. The gravity of the situation didn't hit him until he went to jail, he said.

Meth is extremely addictive, and some people only need to use it once to get hooked, Curtis said, and once addicted, users can't be rational.

"We weren't arrested- we were rescued," Curtis said.

"It was a blessing in disguise," Alyssa added.

The Fays are living in a trailer now because they can't go back home.

Curtis filed for bankruptcy in an effort to keep his house in Moorpark and because he's been unable to pay his bills. But he can't return home because the county locked down the house, even though the district attorney didn't find sufficient evidence to prosecute him for making methamphetamines, Greg Vlachos, Alyssa's father, said. It is a charge the couple denies.

City wants house cleaned Nevertheless, if law enforce- ment personnel believe a methamphetamine lab is being operated, it becomes an environmental health concern because of the danger from chemicals used to process the drug, according to Moorpark Police Detective Will Hammer.

"These are unfortunate circumstances for Fay," he said.

According to Erin O'Connell, supervising environmental health specialist for the Ventura County Environmental Health division, Curtis Fay "was either making or attempting to make methamphetamines in his residence. Simply because the district attorney chose not to prosecute doesn't mean that he wasn't, in fact, manufacturing it."

Ephedrine and solvents were found in Curtis' home, O'Connell said, evidence of chemicals necessary to make methamphetamines.

Curtis denied the allegations. The solvent was full of grease and used to clean equipment, not to make drugs, he said. The paint thinner was on his tractor outside, and the only thing they found was Sudafed pills, Curtis said.

"If you get caught with at least two items to make methamphetamines, you go to jail for at least six years, and that didn't happen," he said.

The county maintains Curtis had highly toxic chemicals at his home with a child present.

In January 2006 the state passed a law requiring county health officials to make homes in which illegal drugs are manufactured inhabitable, O'Connell said.

Curtis Fay's house still needs to be examined and cleaned up, which is the responsibility of the owner, she said.

"At this point, the situation is not entirely in Fay's hands because he may lose the house," she added.

The county is now waiting to see who will end up owning the home. Officials will then begin to work with the owner, whether it's the bank, Fay or someone else.

Until authorities have analyzed the property and proven it is free of contaminants, they will maintain the lockout and lien on the property, O'Connell said.

Even though he believes authorities have been hard on him and arrested him unjustly several times after the drug incident, Curtis takes responsibility for his problems, he said.

"This is what will happen to you in life if you get on the wrong side of the tracks. It's hard to get out," Curtis said. "If I hadn't done drugs, none of this would have happened; I take total responsibility because I jeopardized my family," he said.

Curtis said he's learned his lesson and wants to start living a productive and happy life again.