Chemical Odor Leads Deputies to Drug Activity

A chemical odor at the Chumash Casino and Resort on Tuesday afternoon had hotel management clearing the 9th floor as a precaution while Sheriff’s deputies knocked on a hotel-room door, with County Fire’s Hazmat Unit standing by. A witness told the Independent that hotel guests assumed a meth lab was being raided, but Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kelly Hoover stated deputies found the odor was caused by two men engaged in “drug activity”; the substance involved was not disclosed. No guests were ever in any danger, Hoover said. Rene Sanchez, 30, was cited and released on misdemeanor charges. Erik Paul Martinez, 37, was arrested on four outstanding warrants and is held in County Jail without bail.