Authorities suspend search for suspect in pot farm melee By MATT KAPKO Bay City News Service August 6, 2005 LOS GATOS -- Authorities have called off a search for a man involved in a shootout with officers while guarding a large marijuana grove during a raid near Los Gatos Friday, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department. The shootout occurred almost two hours after officers began raiding the marijuana farm that authorities say could have as many as 50,000 mature plants. The identity of a second man, who was killed during the melee with officers while guarding the grove, won't be released until Monday at the earliest, the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner reported today. A SWAT team was deployed to search for the remaining suspect who fled after the gun battle. The search went unsuccessful and was called off after sunset, Santa Clara County sheriff's Deputy Terrance Helm said today. Kyle Kroll, a 25-year-old California Department of Fish and Game warden, suffered a gunshot wound that traveled through both of his legs during the raid. Soon after Kroll was airlifted from the scene near Mount Umunhum, authorities reported that the suspect, who was in custody at the shooting site, had died. Kroll is recovering from his wounds and is responding well at a local hospital, fish and game spokesman Steve Martarano said today. The medical examiner is still working to determine a positive identification on the suspect who was killed and have yet to contact or locate any surviving family members. Helm said the pair who was guarding the remote marijuana farm ambushed the warden in a sudden eruption of gunfire around 7 a.m. Friday. The shooting occurred in steep and wild terrain, where more than three dozen SWAT officers in camouflage were dropped in pairs via helicopter to search for the remaining suspect. The danger of the manhunt and the difficulty of the terrain slowed down rescue efforts, authorities said. Law enforcement agencies were first alerted to the site near the base of Mount Umunhum by staff with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which owns and maintains the land where the fracas occurred. The 17,000-acre open-space reserve surrounding Mount Umunhum is closed to the public, district Operations Manager John Maciel said Friday. "This is not the first one,'' Maciel said of the marijuana growing operation in the reserve. Authorities found up to 50,000 mature marijuana plants in a mile-long area spread across two to three acres at the base of the mountain, officials said. Home