5 suspects arrested in desert west of Victorville killings in dispute over marijuana, sheriff’s officials say
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Five men have been arrested in the investigation surrounding six bodies found last week at a remote dirt crossroads west of Victorville. The dispute was over marijuana, sheriff’s officials said Monday.
Authorities discovered the bodies in the Mojave Desert outside El Mirage after someone called 911 and said he had been shot, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Warrick said. Five bodies were found late Tuesday and a sixth the following morning.
Five suspects were arrested after deputies served search warrants Sunday, Warrick said at a news conference.
“We are confident that this appears to be a dispute over marijuana,” he said.
The area, some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Los Angeles, is so remote that the sheriff’s department called in help from the California Highway Patrol’s Aviation Division to find the scene.
Sheriff Shannon Dicus said illicit marijuana was the driving force behind the killings.
Overhead footage from TV stations last week showed a dark blue SUV with a passenger window blown out and another door open, with part of the image blurred. The footage also showed numerous yellow evidence markers in the scrubby desert.
