YC police raid homes, arrest meth suspect

Police and drug enforcement officers raided two Yuba City homes Wednesday and arrested a man with a long criminal history of methamphetamine production.

Yuba City police arrested Curtis Upthegrove, 38, at his single-wide trailer inside the Gum Tree Mobile Home Park at 1039 Garden Highway.

Police planned to charge him with manufacturing meth and carrying a loaded firearm, according to Jeff Webster, assistant police chief.

Upthegrove had not been booked at the Sutter County Jail as of 6:30 p.m.

Upthegrove’s past includes arrests in 2000 and 2003 in connection with meth labs discovered in Yuba City.

He pleaded guilty to drug manufacturing in both cases, receiving a two-year prison sentence in the first case and a seven-year term in the second, according to court records.

Officers and members of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, known as NET-5, served search warrants on Upthegrove’s trailer and a Wilkie Way home between 7 and 10 a.m., Webster said. The link between the raids was not immediately known.

At the Garden Highway home, authorities recovered an unknown amount of suspected meth and a loaded semiautomatic handgun, and also searched a Dodge Ramcharger and Chevrolet Monte Carlo parked outside, according to Webster.

He said Upthegrove “had custody” of the cars, although their ownership was not yet known.

For two hours, a Sutter County Fire Department hazardous materials team in protective suits removed from the home numerous bottles filled with various chemicals “associated with a drug lab,” according to fire Lt. Glenn Aronowitz.

The exact substances were not identified, although meth production typically involves the use of caustic or corrosive materials.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune can be reached at 749-4708. You may e-mail him at hyune@appealdemocrat.com.