Bad Batch Of LSD Plagues Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ (KPIX 5) -- Parents in Santa Cruz County are being warned about an especially deadly batch of LSD.

A police shooting, a bizarre fight on a freeway, and a car crash in the woods. Authorities say they all have one thing in common: bad LSD.

A warning is going out to parents to watch out.

In just the last two weeks, Santa Cruz sheriff's deputies say there were three cases of bad LSD trips.

In most cases, the drug has caused people to get violent and in one case, a teen died.

In the most recent case, a young man reportedly took the drug placed on a mint. He started to act erratically and had to be physically restrained until authorities showed up.

Earlier this month, California Highway Patrol officers fought with a man high on LSD on Highway 17.

Another man was so high it caused the car he was riding in to crash into a forest, and a week ago, it sent a girl to the hospital for a seizure after she took a hit off a popsicle.

Santa Cruz County sheriff's Sgt. Chris Clark said, "Many of us have kids and so we look at this kind of like, what would we hope for our kids, you know. What would we hope for them, we want them to be successful."

Luke Smith didn't get that chance -- authorities say he was so high off a bad batch of LSD he stabbed his uncle and father in their home, and was eventually confronted by deputies. After he refused to drop the weapon, a deputy says he had no choice but to shoot.

Local parent Hal Petersen said, "It's pretty alarming, I'll talk to my daughter about it for sure."

The sheriff's office sent a public safety alert to all parents, students and teachers in the county, asking them for help -- to talk to their children.

Crystal Nucci has a 15-year-old son at Soquel High School and talks to him regularly about the dangers.

Nucci said, "You need to really speak to your children, pay attention to what's going on. If you see something that's happening -- then you have to nip it in the bud."