Police find hash oil lab in Santa Cruz home

A man and a woman were arrested in Santa Cruz early Monday after investigators found nearly 250 pounds of marijuana and a laboratory used to make tens of thousands of dollars worth of hash oil, police said.

Santa Cruz police were called at 2:20 a.m. Monday about an alleged domestic violence incident at a home in the 200 block of Linden Street and when officers entered it, they found the hash oil lab in one of the rooms, police Lt. Bernie Escalante said.

Officers called the Santa Cruz Fire Department to make sure the lab, which was using highly flammable butane gas to manufacture the hash oil, was safe, police said.

Police detectives obtained a search warrant to go through the residence, where they seized about 1,232 grams of processed hash oil with an estimated street-level value ranging from $25,000 to $62,000, as well as about 246 pounds of marijuana valued at $123,000 and more than $7,000 in cash, according to police.

Officers arrested the residents, Christopher Kite, 36, and Sarah Theden, 30, on suspicion of domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of marijuana and hash oil for sale, manufacturing a controlled substance for sale and conspiracy, police said.