After deputies received a report of suspicious circumstances involving a lift parked near a power line in Barstow, they uncovered a sprawling, unlicensed marijuana grow hidden inside a vacant home. Deputies say they found freshly cut wiring, a tampered electrical panel, and roughly 365 marijuana plants after responding to the area of Church Avenue and L Street on Friday.
According to the Sacramento Bee, which republished reporting originally filed by the Victorville Daily Press, a sheriff's department statement described a man operating a lift on the power line without any visible warning lights or traffic cones nearby; deputies had responded after receiving a report of suspicious circumstances involving the lift. When they investigated, they found an apparent bypass routing electricity from the Church Street line directly to a nearby vacant home, according to the sheriff's department statement cited in the same report.
Inside, investigators said power lines had been routed to every room of the house, and the garage carried a strong odor of marijuana. Fertilizer, lighting systems, and other equipment consistent with a marijuana growing operation were found throughout the property, officials said. The sheriff's department's marijuana enforcement team served a warrant at the home, and deputies ultimately uprooted approximately 365 marijuana plants, according to officials.
Edison Confirms Equipment Was Tampered With
Southern California Edison confirmed that its equipment had been tampered with and that electricity was being stolen from the line, per the report. Jose Luis Baez Burgos, a 36-year-old Mexican national, was arrested on suspicion of theft of utilities, according to county booking records, and has since been released on bail pending legal proceedings.
A VVNG report described an arrest involving more than $15,000 in utility theft tied to an indoor marijuana grow.
What Burgos Could Face Under State Law
Under California Penal Code Section 498, stealing or diverting utility services like electricity can be charged as a misdemeanor or elevated to a felony carrying up to three years in county jail if the value of the diverted power exceeds $950. Separately, California Health and Safety Code Section 11358 allows adults 21 and older to legally grow up to six cannabis plants inside a private residence for personal use — but cultivating more than six plants without commercial state and local permits is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. An alleged grow of roughly 365 plants sits far outside that personal-use allowance.
Local zoning adds another layer. The City of Barstow enacted municipal regulations in October 2021 allowing licensed commercial cannabis businesses only within designated commercial and industrial zones under conditional use permits, meaning an unpermitted grow inside a vacant residential home violates city code regardless of any state cultivation limits.
A Task Force Built for Exactly This
The raid falls under the reach of San Bernardino County's Operation Hammer Strike, an initiative the Board of Supervisors launched in August 2021 that expanded the sheriff's department's Marijuana Enforcement Teams from a single unit to five dedicated teams targeting illegal grows across desert communities. The operation targets illegal grows across desert communities.
Beyond criminal charges, growers and absentee property owners can face steep civil penalties. The county adopted an urgency ordinance in August 2021 imposing administrative fines ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 per day for non-compliant cannabis farms operating with more than 200 plants, a tool aimed squarely at commercial-scale grows rather than small personal gardens.
Part of a Statewide Pattern
The Barstow case echoes a similar bust in Riverside County in December 2023, when deputies arrested a suspect running a 135-plant indoor grow and stealing electricity from Southern California Edison, as Hoodline reported at the time. Hoodline also covered a desert grow bust near El Mirage earlier this month that netted tens of thousands of pounds of plant material under the same county enforcement framework.
State regulatory data from 2026 shows that 53% of California's 540 cities and counties maintain total prohibitions on commercial cannabis operations, creating a patchwork of local bans. The figures illustrate how local cannabis rules vary across the state.
