Written by: Beck

Police raided a family's home looking for marijuana and found nothing there. It was just a normal family. So what was the probable cause for launching the raid? A high electric bill.

Homes were targeted largely based on unusually high utility bills, which often result from the 24-hour use of grow lights, according to court records.

Hmmm... of course police then went on to give two different explanations, just in case we weren't happy with a justification likely stemming form a family preferring to keep the air conditioner a few degrees lower.

[Police Lt. Rowland] noted a drug-sniffing dog showed interest in the home when it was taken there before Friday's search.

I'd be fascinated to learn what exactly constitutes "showing interest," from a dog. Finally, in one last bit of CYA, the police assert that:

In his sworn affidavit, Carlsbad Detective Mark Reyes states an unidentified, confidential source told a county Narcotics Task Force agent that someone might be growing pot in the house.

Oh, OK. Nothing creepy here. An unidentified source said someone might be growing pot.

I wonder what the odds are that this mystery source was a sock-puppet named "Mr. Binky." Actually, it was probably the dog.

Link credit to Fark.