Crime & Safety

Loud Music Call Leads Police to Marijuana Grow Operation

Alhambra resident Chuan W. Pang is charged with felony cultivation of marijuana.

Police responding to a loud music complaint uncovered a "sophisticated" marijuana grow operation in an abandoned Arcadia home.

Alhambra resident Chuan W. Pang, 30, is accused of felony cultivation of marijuana in connection with the bust, during which police seized more than 500 pot plants in various stages of growth, Arcadia Police Lt. Tom LeVeque said.

Pang apparently also stole electricty from Southern California Edison's grid by bypassing the home's electrical meter, officials said.

Find out what's happening in Arcadiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, police responded to a routine noise complaint at a home in the 2500 block of South Santa Anita Avenue.

Pang was standing outside the front of the home when officers arrived and agreed to turn down the music upon officers' requests, LeVeque said. However, officers discovered the home was abandoned and returned an hour later to find Pang still standing in front of the house.

Find out what's happening in Arcadiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Pang reportedly told officers he had permission to stay at the home, which belonged to a friend whose name, oddly enough, he could not remember. However, Pang had a key to the front door, which he unlocked for officers, LeVeque said.

That's when the overpowering smell of marijuana hit officers hard.

Detectives secured a search warrant and unearthed a large-scale, indoor marijuana grow operation.

"Every room, closet, hallway and usable space" inside the roughly 2,500-square-foot, 4-bedroom home was filled with marijuana plants and growing equipment, LeVeque said in a written statement.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to contact the Arcadia Police Department at (626) 574-5150, case #1300421. To provide information anonymously, call “Crime Stoppers” at 1-(800) 222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the tip page at Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at http://lacrimestoppers.org/.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Arcadia