Photo: Tyrone Taylor
Santa Barbara County – SBCSD arrested two suspects after they hit a pot farm twice.
The City of Carpinteria, once famous as supplier of cut flowers to the nation’s floral industry, is quickly becoming known as the supplier of a recently legalized agricultural product: marijuana. Where greenhouses once were home to tulips and roses, vast temperature-controlled acreages now supply California’s appetite for cannabis products.
Henry Jernigan
The area’s uptick in high-profit agricultural activity has apparently not gone unnoticed by out-of-the-area criminal interests. Evidence of that came on June 9, 2018 when a major marijuana cultivation facility was the target of an armed robbery involving four suspects holding a security guard captive at gunpoint in order to steal cash and property.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, the same greenhouse operation was once again hit on the night of August 29th by suspects identified as Los Angeles County residents Tyrone Taylor, 31, and Henry Jernigan, 45.
Similarly, the ensuing investigation into the second robbery indicated that Taylor and Jernigan committed the June 9th heist.
Finally, both men face charges of-
- possession of burglary tools;
- attempted robbery;
- kidnapping;
- robbery;
- false imprisonment;
- conspiracy to commit a crime;
- possession of stolen property;
- vandalism;
- possession of teargas,;
- use of teargas;
- and possession of a dirk or dagger.
As a result, both men remain in custody, held on bail of $1,000,000 each.
Photos: Courtesy of Santa Barbara Jail Booking
