2 accused of stealing marijuana plants, then crashing stolen car into Garden Grove house
Expand
Santa Ana police on Thursday, June 13, took two suspects into custody who they say fled from officers in a stolen car after stealing marijuana plants and then crashed into an unoccupied house in Garden Grove.
At about 2 a.m. officers near Hazard Avenue and Euclid Street saw a car speeding, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
The officers tried to catch up to the car but lost sight of it at Hazard and Ward Street. They searched about and found that the car had crashed into a house in the 10400 block of West Hazard in Garden Grove, Bertagna said.
The suspects had abandoned the car, so officers set up a perimeter and began searching. Residents told the officers the suspects were hiding in a backyard, and both were taken into custody.
The passenger of the car, a juvenile, was taken into custody and to a hospital to be treated for injuries from the crash.
Two replica handguns were found in the car and so were several marijuana plants, which the passenger admitted they had stolen from a house in Santa Ana, police said. In Santa Ana, certain types of marijuana grows are permitted in homes.
The adult driver was found to be under the influence, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto, petty theft and driving under the influence.
Officers later found the owner of the marijuana plants who said thieves jumped over his fence and stole the plants from his backyard.