Police searching for owner of massive pot grow

RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- Richmond police are looking for the people responsible for a huge marijuana grow they found by accident. It was discovered after a fire broke out early Wednesday morning at a warehouse in the 1600 block of Ohio Street.

A woman living with the pot plants says she knew there were marijuana plants, but police are still letting her go. Richmond police spent the morning loading up the bed of a pick-up truck with the plants while she watched. She told police the plants didn't belong to her. "We did have a person on scene who was acting as a watch guard. She's trying to get a hold of the person responsible for the warehouse," said Lt. Bisa French.

The woman told ABC7 she needed a place to stay after she was the victim of an armed burglary. She's been living in the building for a few months, but says the plants aren't hers. Police think the district attorney will be more interested in the owner of the plants, so they're going to hold off on arresting her though they admit her phone calls to the owner of the plants will probably go unanswered. "Possible, but highly unlikely," Bisa said.

The woman called 9-1-1 around 3:30 Wednesday morning because the warehouse was on fire. Firefighters discovered the huge grow. Police say there were about 2,100 plants inside. One Richmond resident heard about it, but said it was so unbelievable he had to come and see it for himself. "I never thought that nothing like that was going on. I had to look myself," neighbor Michael Bracy said.

PG&E; shut the power off once officials how much was being used at the location. People who live in the area say everyone in the neighborhood knows everyone, but no one suspected a thing. "It was never open," neighbor Shante Johnson said. "So, nobody knew. Nobody knew nothing and it's crazy that nobody knew in the 'hood like that."

Police say they have the name of the person who owns the plants and now that they have finished emptying out the warehouse, they are going to look for them.

Get more East Bay News »

pot bust, richmond, crime, marijuana, east bay news, amy hollyfield

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•