Security officer shot at after discovering marijuana warehouse robbery
UNION CITY CA July 1 2021 — A major illegal marijuana grow house operation with thousands of plants was discovered by police in one of Union City’s industrial areas after a group of men robbed a warehouse overnight and shot at a security guard, police said Tuesday.
Around 1:20 a.m., police said officers were sent to the area of Zwissig Way, after a security guard working in the area called police to report that as he attempted to interrupt an apparent robbery at a warehouse, a group of men in dark clothes shot at him and then ran away.
The security guard was doing a security check of the area when he saw about eight men in dark clothing running out of the warehouse “with bags full of what he suspected to be marijuana,” Union City Police Capt. Travis Souza said in an interview Tuesday.
As the security officer drove away from the area, he heard two “pops,” which he believed was
Police said the guard was apparently shot at by the men fleeing the area.
“We believe the victim was shot at and the vehicle was hit, causing a bullet hole in the rear bumper and a flat tire. The victim was not hurt otherwise, though,” Souza said, adding that the guard saw the men leave the area in two cars.
When officers arrived to investigate and look for any other people who may have been injured, they stumbled upon the apparent illegal grow operation.
“It’s a very large warehouse with upwards of 15,000 square feet,” Souza said.
“They did locate what they estimate to be thousands, of marijuana plants in various stages of growth. They also noticed several full garbage bags filled with what appeared to be harvested marijuana,” Souza said of officers at the scene.
Souza said the bags may have been part of the load the men were attempting to steal, but they were likely discarded “because of the panic of seeing the security guard.”
Detectives were already well underway Tuesday afternoon with the work of collecting and inventorying all of the contents of the warehouse and working to determine who is responsible for the grow operation, as well as who was involved with the robbery and shooting, Souza said.
