Pot Farm bust suspect shot

A state Fish and Wildlife officer shot an armed guard during a July 7 raid on an illegal marijuana-growing operation on state property northeast of Scotts Valley.
The man, identified as 40-year-old Eulojio Martinez, was treated at a Bay Area hospital with multiple gunshot wounds after a tense, early morning encounter on Friday, July 7 near the Santa Clara/Santa Cruz County line, on the Mid-Peninsula Open Space Preserve off Highland Way, near the Soquel Demonstration Forest. Martinez was later transferred to the County Jail, held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
He faces multiple charges, including firearms charges involving an automatic weapon, stream pollution, stolen property and trespassing, according to Lt. Chris Stoots, of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Stoots said the incident illustrates the multiple threats posed by illegal pot-growing camps in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
“Deforestation, litter, stream pollution, illegal encampments – we see them every year,” he said. Often the growers are armed and dangerous, he said.
An eight-person team of Fish and Wildlife officers, assisted by two Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies, moved in the suspected pot growing operation at 6:30 a.m. last Friday. “Our focus was on evidence of stream pollution of Soquel Creek,” he said.
Officers encountered the armed suspect, whom they attempted to subdue with a police dog. When the man fought off the dog and didn’t drop his weapon, he was shot by one officer, Stoots said. The dog was injured. No officers were injured.
More than 10,000 illegal marijuana plants were destroyed.
He encouraged anyone with information about possible large-scale illegal marijuana operations to call a special hotline, at 888-334-2258.