Officers released tear gas into an Encinitas mansion known for criminal activity while serving a search warrant there Tuesday.
The officers arrived shortly before 9 a.m. at the home on Rancho Encinitas Drive and used a non-lethal chemical agent when the people inside did not cooperate, according to officials.
Several people were later handcuffed and escorted out of the house.
Nick Backouris with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said officials had received multiple complaints about the 4,000 sq. ft. home over the past several years and the home has been a headache for the community. He had said at a brief press conference earlier that they had a warrant for some drug and some gang activity.
“It’s been a chronic problem in the community for a number of years now," he said.
When NBC 7's Matt Rascon last spoke with Backouris, he said they had found pharmaceutical drugs, though he did not specify what quantity.
“We’re looking for evidence of different crimes in an attempt to make the community a little better for the folks around here," Backouris said.
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NBC 7 footage from the scene showed two women and two men -- one elderly man and one younger man -- being escorted from the house in handcuffs and driven off in patrol cars. Two other men were escorted from the house and into a sheriff's car as well.
Homeowner Anastasia Kirkeby, one of the arrested, was charged with furnishing a home under the use of narcotics. Daughter Francesca was also arrested recently for drug charges. The residents had two dogs which officials took because no one was left in the house to take care of them.
Backouris said officers found crawl spaces below the floors during their search, though they did not know how they were used.
Officials are in a hurry to finish their work so neighbors do not have to deal with the situation over the holidays, Backouris said.
