Report of baby not breathing leads to pot-growing operation in El Monte

EL MONTE -- Police arrested the parents of an infant after rushing to the family's home after the baby stopped breathing Wednesday and discovering a marijuana growing operation, authorities said.

Van Pho, 30, and Jing Gao, 21, were booked on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana and child abuse, El Monte police Lt. Dan Burlingham said.

The mother awoke shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday in an apartment in the 11100 block of Elliott Avenue and discovered her 2- to 3-month-old baby boy was unresponsive and not breathing, the lieutenant said.

She called authorities, who rushed the baby to the Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, where doctors were able to find a faint heartbeat, Burlingham said. The child was then rushed to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where he was listed in critical condition.

While at the home, police observed an indoor pot-growing operation of about 100 plants, officials said. The baby's parents were arrested.

There were no initial physical signs of abuse on the child, and the reason he stopped breathing was unknown, Burlingham said.

Pho and Gao were released from jail Thursday afternoon after posting $100,000 bail each, officials said. They were due for arraignment Feb. 23 in El Monte Superior Court.