A police officer was injured while chasing suspects fleeing a break-in at an apparent illegal marijuana grow site early Wednesday in Hayward, authorities said.
Witnesses alerted police about 5:35 a.m. to armed suspects breaking into a building in the 2500 block of West Winton Road, an industrial area near the Hayward Regional Shoreline.
Police responded and spotted the suspects fleeing in a car and pursued them, according to Hayward police Officer Cassondra Fovel.
An officer lost control of his patrol SUV during the chase and went off the road in the 21000 block of Cabot Boulevard. A fire hydrant was sheared off by the police vehicle in the crash, Fovel said.
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The officer suffered moderate injuries, and was treated and released from care.
Police were obtaining a search warrant to search the marijuana grow.
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Meanwhile, a man who works on cars in the same area said he arrived Wednesday morning to find two of his vehicles riddled with bullets. The man said police told him the damage was unrelated to their investigation.
"We don't have any information to say there was an exchange of gunfire of any kind," Fovel said. "We cannot say those incidents are related, however we are conducting an investigation to make sure and rule out that scene is not connected."
Other nearby business owners said the business is a known grow site, adding it has been burglarized at least once in the past
No suspects have been arrested and an investigation is ongoing.
