A man who was arrested after a shot was fired toward deputies in East County was found to have an arsenal of weapons and a hash lab at his home, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.
Rodney Luzaich, 58, was arrested after the altercation with deputies in a neighborhood east of Hawley Road and north of Interstate 8 at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, SDSO said.
Deputies were responding to calls of an erratic man holding a rifle when they encountered Luzaich, SDSO said. After deputies surrounded the area where Luzaich was holed up, a shotgun was allegedly fired in their direction.
The blast hit a nearby home. No deputies or bystanders were hurt, SDSO said.
Luzaich was eventually taken into custody and a gun was found nearby — hidden inside a cactus, SDSO said.
An apartment complex in City Heights was evacuated after an explosion that was believed to be tied to hash oil, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Luzaich faces charges of assault on a peace officer, negligent discharge of a firearm, being under the influence while armed, and other drugs and weapons charges.
SDSO obtained a search warrant for Luzaich’s home. Inside, they found 32 more firearms and about 50,000 rounds of ammunition, the agency said.
Also on the property was a large butane honey oil lab, a dangerous process of using butane to extracting concentrated THC from marijuana, SDSO said. Detectives also found more than two dozen marijuana plants, nearly 100 pounds of marijuana, other marijuana products and methamphetamine.