What started as a hit and run with an assault investigation in Whittier on Friday ended with two arrests and the discovery of a sizeable chemical drug manufacturing lab tucked inside an industrial building in Santa Fe Springs. A pungent, unexplained odor in the area had already drawn fire crews, and that strange smell helped steer detectives straight to the operation.
According to NBC Los Angeles, officers were called around 2:10 p.m. to the 9600 block of Santa Fe Springs Road for a report of an assault with a deadly weapon involving a vehicle, essentially an assault that doubled as a hit and run. Fire personnel were already on scene checking out the suspicious odor. Officers later found the suspect vehicle parked at Presbyterian Inter-Community Hospital in Whittier, where they took one suspect into custody after an extensive search of the surrounding area. Investigators said that during follow-up work, evidence pointed them to a nearby industrial unit, where a second person was arrested.
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