EVIDENCE OF DRUG OPERATION DISCOVERED

Police found a sophisticated marijuana growing operation inside the
north Eugene home of the victim of a violent invasion-style robbery,
as well as in the home of his neighbors, whose refusal to disarm when
officers arrived to investigate prompted police to fire at them,
according to documents filed in Lane County Circuit Court.

Police found hidden grow rooms in the garages of both houses on
Willona Drive, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by police.

Inside the neighbors' house, officers discovered about 385 marijuana
plants, as well as a bag of ecstacy tablets and a bottle of what
appeared to be the potent hallucinogen LSD.

Police also found more than a pound of marijuana and a bag of cash in
a truck belonging to one of the neighbors, according to the warrant.

Police found a similar operation in the victim's house, although it
was unclear whether any plants were discovered. Officers also found
several weapons, plus scales and a suitcase full of dollar bills.

Neither the neighbors nor the original robbery victim has been charged
with a crime.

Last week, police arrested three men for the Oct. 31 robbery, during
which a 25-year-old Eugene man was beaten and his throat slashed.

Personnel at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene called police
shortly before 4 a.m. on Oct. 31 to report that a man had been dropped
off with a serious neck wound. The man told officers that he awoke to
see six armed men in masks standing over his bed. They had at least
three shotguns and an iron bar. The men cut the victim's throat and
beat him with the bar and the guns, the victim told police. They then
bound him with wire and left with his car, the victim said.

The victim eventually cut his feet free and walked next door. One of
the neighbors took him to the hospital.

The victim told police he didn't know who his assailants
were.

When officers arrived at the house that morning, one of the victim's
neighbors was standing in the front door with a gun, which he refused
to drop when police ordered him to do so. Officers fired at the man
and took him into custody. No one was injured, although officers did
kill a 90-pound pit bull that had lunged at them. Police later learned
that the neighbors thought the officers were the robbers returning to
the house. The men were not charged.

The case remains under investigation, and investigators have said more
suspects could still be arrested.