Wanted gang member arrested during raid at Las Lomas home

UPDATE 10/22/15 1:07 PM: Detectives with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department said a wanted gang member was arrested after an investigation at a home in Las Lomas Wednesday morning.

Investigators said Victor Lozano, 49, was arrested after deputies found 10 children living inside a trailer and shed, with no electricity, water, heating or plumbing in the 100 block of Elkhorn Rd. in Watsonville. They said the group of children ranged from ages 1 to 17 and were placed into protective custody.

Detectives said they recovered 18 firearms on the property and thousands of rounds of ammunition, all within reach of the children. Six more adults were also found at the home.

Lozano was wanted out of Fresno County and deputies became aware of suspicious behavior at the property after several people were seen shooting high powered rifles and shotguns.

UPDATE 10/21/15 1:45 PM: More than 40 deputies from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Monterey County Department of Corrections responded to a home on Elkhorn Road Wednesday morning.

They were working on a tip from the South Monterey County Violence Suppression Collaboration, with deputies serving a search warrant based on child endangerment and guns.

Deputies found eight children and at least seven adults in the home near Kirby Park, including a gang member who jumped probation out of Fresno County. He was taken into custody.

Deputies also confiscated nearly 20 weapons. Based on all of those weapons and the condition of the property, deputies said they were worried about the children and brought in code enforcement.

“Because of the nature of the case and the child endangerment, our code enforcement folks were out there evaluating the property, along with our building inspector,” Cmdr. John Thornburg said. “We had reason to believe they needed to be a part of this investigation to see if the residence and everything else the children were living in were safe and up to code for Monterey County.”

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said it’s reaching out to their counterparts in Fresno regarding the gang member. No word yet on whether he’ll face any charges.

10/21/15 10:09 AM: The Monterey County SWAT Team is helping serve a dangerous search warrant on Elkhorn Road south of Las Lomas.

Authorities temporarily closed roads, but reopened them just before 10:00 a.m.

Keep checking News Channel 5 for more updates on this story.