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Another Medical Marijuana Clinic Robbed
Sheriff's deputies investigating second incident at a pot club in eight days
Ricci Graham | Daily Review Online | 09/10/2005

HAYWARD — Law enforcement officials had resorted to calling pot clubs "crime magnets" even before a break-in at an area marijuana medical clinic on Friday morning.
In the three weeks since a man was fatally shot Aug. 19 by the owner of a medical marijuana club in San Leandro, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department has been called to investigate a robbery and a burglary at separate clubs this month.

Lt. Dale Amaral said the latest incident occurred about 12:40 a.m. on Friday at the Garden of Eden cannabis club at 21227 Foothill Blvd. in an unincorporated community adjacent to Hayward.

Amaral said deputies responding to an alarm, arrived at the club and found it had been broken into. A security camera inside captured images of two armed men, one standing guard at the door while the other used a handgun to smash the glass display case where marijuana was stored.

The two suspects made off with an undetermined amount of marijuana and a handgun that had been left inside the club, Amaral said.

"This is going to continue," Amaral said. "If they can't rob and shoot their way in, they're going to burglarize their way in. These various businesses have done a lot of things. But it's only so much you can do to harden these buildings. If they want to get in bad enough, they're going to get in."

In the other incident, on Sept. 2, Amaral said, a patron who had gone to the CCA Cannabis Club at 21222 Mission Blvd., also in an unincorporated area outside Hayward, was accosted by five men while leaving the establishment.
One of the men put a gun to the patron's head and forced him to hand over $250 worth of marijuana he had just purchased, Amaral said. The suspects, he said, were seen leaving the scene in a dark green Honda Accord.

"We will continue to have these incidents because the clubs just attract thugs," Amaral said.

The robbery and burglary occurred two weeks after DeMarco Lowrey, 18, was shot and killed on Aug. 19 by the owner of A Natural Source marijuana club at 16360 Foothill Blvd. in an unincorporated neighborhood near San Leandro.

Jarrell McKneely, whom authorities said was among five or six men to conduct the takeover robbery of the club, was charged with murder as a result of Lowrey's death.


Ricci Graham covers courts and law enforcement. He can be reached at (510) 293-2469 or rgraham@dailyreviewonline.com.

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Buzzby

I haven't noticed any campaigns to ban convenience stores, banks, or jewelry stores. They get robbed at gunpoint all the time. And they're not providing a vital service for sick people.

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Tolerance4all

Normally when reading about a particular type of business being targeted buy criminals, law enforcement will state that extra patrols will be added to deter the criminals. All that law enforcement wants to state about the Cannabis Clubs, is that they attract crime. Then the media makes sure to include the address's of the clubs. Makes it easier for any thugs out there who might want to join in.

BC.Buddy

That's an extremely good point. My opinion exactly.

But it is true. Someone wants to get in bad enough, they'll get in. Even the hardest places to get out of have had successful escapes.

Too bad.

Perhaps if we legalized marijuana fully and the government controlled regulation and distribution, the marijuana dispensary facilities wouldn't be so easy to rob. They may also not be robbed at all anyway!

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SkyTripper

Yeah.....its a shame that this kind of crap happens with little or no sympathy from very many in the law enforcement community as well as the media.
Guaranteed that the FBI sure won't treat these like they would with a bank robbery!
Apparently, these cannabis clubs desperately need to come up with their own security measures to a far greater extent to protect themselves and their patrons from being mugged after leaving the establishment.
It is obvious that they need to treat this matter similar to the way banks and armored car companies do and provide more armed guards or else encourage their patrons to carry a weapon for self defense or something.
Because marijuana remains illegal and fetches astronomical amounts of money on the black market......often its value is equivalent to pure gold in weight......this is a serious concern for the clubs and those who go there for a natural medicine which helps them so much.
Those who rob, burglarize and mug people...by sticking a gun in their face for some weed and/or cash.......or anything else, for that matter....NEED lengthy prison time, IMO.

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SkyTripper

 

BC.Buddy

I was watching on the news that there's been a death in some prison due to overcrowding. Perhaps this is why they can't throw these types of criminals in prison; because the marijuana users are taking up too much room!

And that's another problem, you KNOW they're not going to put any effort into making sure that these dispensaries don't get robbed. EVEN THOUGH, they're supplying sick peoples' MEDICINE!!!

Tokamak

Not only does this article make the victims of these crimes, the medical marijuana clubs, look like the true culprits, it COMPLETELY fails to give the reason the clubs "attract crime": because marijuana's value, as SkyTripper said, is "equivalent to pure gold." Why??? BECAUSE PROHIBITION CAUSES INFLATED PRICES! When I step back and see how utterly ridiculous it is for a bit of dried plant matter to be worth as much, pound for pound, as gold, I don't know what should come out of my mouth first, bile or laughter? Goddamn the prohibitionists and their lies straight to the bottom bowels of hell, where Satan can burn their eyes out with glowing blunt cherries for eternity!!!!

That felt waaaay too good...

man... not smoking for a while sure can make me irritable

Peace.

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Abomonog

You know, you all got some really good points here.


Now if only someone would get up and actually do something about those pesky marijuana laws.

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king cola

Law enforcement officials had resorted to calling pot clubs "crime magnets" even before a break-in at an area marijuana medical clinic on Friday morning.
In the three weeks since a man was fatally shot Aug. 19 by the owner of a medical marijuana club in San Leandro, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department has been called to investigate a robbery and a burglary at separate clubs this month.

It's no different than pharmacy's getting broken into. I heard a lot of stories about pharmacy's in one area gettin broken into and the people were stealing oxycontin. Then even in my area, a general store was broken into a few years ago, asprin and other medications were stolen, more than likely to be used to cut drugs with. It happens in places all the time, but now because marijuana clubs are being robbed they try and make it sound like that is the only place it happens at. Marijuana is illegal to non medical users, the place has the pot, if people don't want to pay for it they will obviously steal it if they want it, even gun stores get broken into. If anything no one is saying a gun store is inviting criminals even though we know most armed robberies are with guns and not something like a knife.

Before these prohibitionists make their comments, they need to think about it a little before speaking. They are a bunch of f*ckin idiots and of course the media eats it up

"Perhaps if we legalized marijuana fully and the government controlled regulation and distribution, the marijuana dispensary facilities wouldn't be so easy to rob. They may also not be robbed at all anyway!"

There would be so much pot it would be pointless to rob it. There isn't a lot of cannabis clubs around at the moment and again it's only legal for medical users to have it, these robbers figure they will probably break in, steal the pot and then re sell it. If legalized and government controlled i also agree it wouldn't be as easy to rob. I bet these cops that are handling these situations aren't doing much about it anyway and probably figure, well it's their fault for having it for medical use, it's not our problem seein that pot is government banned to begin with. I really don't think they will take a cannabis club which was robbed as serious as a package store being robbed do to the fact that one is partially legal(medical marijuana)and the other is completely legal, but i could be wrong, it's just my opinion.