Author: Lt. Dan Marcou
By Barbara Arrigoni Chico Enterprise-Record
BERRY CREEK, Calif. — Authorities are investigating an officer’s shooting early Tuesday morning of a man tending an illegal marijuana grow site on Feather Ridge Way in Berry Creek, about 20 miles northeast of Oroville.
At the scene around 7 a.m., sheriff’s Lt. Al Smith said a team from the Special Enforcement Unit and Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force agents went to the foothill location to serve a search warrant on an illegal marijuana grow.
The location was off a dirt road off Encina Grande Road, about three miles from Highway 162.
Smith said officers first encountered a man identified later as Javier Favela-Aguiano, 29, a Mexican national. He was arrested without incident.
At about the same time, officers saw another man standing near the garden with what appeared to be a handgun, Smith said. That man was later identified as Juan Gutierrez, 24, of Southern California.
Smith said there was an exchange of gunfire between the man near the garden and officers. No officers were hit.
In a press release later, the Sheriff’s Office stated Gutierrez was initially shot by a deputy with a non-lethal bean bag shotgun round. Gutierrez then fled into the grow site and fired at the deputies with a handgun.
Deputy Jack Storne fired twice at Gutierrez, striking him once in the leg.
Gutierrez was taken into custody and to a local hospital.
Two dogs, possibly pit bulls, were also found at the scene. Smith said the animals were friendly, but one ran off, scared. The other dog was taken by animal control officers.
Smith said about 40 plants were found in the garden, about 3-feet tall and close to maturity. The plants were confiscated.
Officers also found a few tents, a make-shift kitchen and a temporary carport at the site.
The location is a privately owned parcel. Smith said the Sheriff’s Office would try to locate the owner.
He also said the Special Enforcement Unit is beginning to see Mexican national grows on private property, rather than just in national forests.
The Butte County Officer Involved Shooting Protocol Team was activated and arrived at the scene around 10 a.m., along with investigators from the state Department of Justice crime lab.
Storne was placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.
Gutierrez will be booked on charges of cultivation/sales of marijuana, attempted murder on a peace officer, armed in the commission of a felony, a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, and prohibited person in possession of ammunition.
Gutierrez’s bail was set at about $1 million.
Favela-Anguiano was booked into Butte County Jail on charges of cultivation/sales of marijuana and being armed in the commission of a felony. His bail was set at about $125,000.
Investigators from the District Attorney’s Office, the Probation Department, Oroville, Gridley-Biggs, Chico and Paradise police departments and the state Department of Justice responded to assist in the investigation.
Copyright 2011 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
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