Homes, Businesses Near Santa Cruz Evacuated As Sheriff's Office Dismantles Hash Oil Lab

LIVE OAK, Santa Cruz County (CBS SF) -- Homes and businesses in the Live Oak community near Santa Cruz were evacuated on Friday morning as deputies dismantled a butane hash oil lab in a warehouse, sheriff's officials said.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office served a search warrant on Thursday at the warehouse in the 1900 block of Commercial Way.

Deputies seized 5,400 pounds of cannabis, 5 pounds of cannabis concentrate, 114 pounds of hash oil, hundreds of counterfeit vape pens and an ice cream freezer truck filled with several thousand pounds of cannabis material, according to the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office returned Friday to dismantle the lab and hazardous electrical circuitry.

While removing the dangerous equipment, the sheriff's office ordered the evacuation of three businesses and eight to 10 homes, according to sheriff's spokesperson Ashley Keehn.

Keehn said that the evacuations were expected to remain in place for several hours on Friday. The evacuated businesses include an animal feed store and a heating and air conditioning store.

The operator of the lab is facing criminal charges, though the sheriff's office had not yet taken the person into custody as of Friday morning, Keehn said.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.