Police are looking for the thieves they believe are responsible for recently robbing two cannabis businesses in Santa Cruz.
Surveillance video shows multiple cars drive up to a marijuana warehouse around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 16 on Fair Avenue. Thieves in masks get out and begin loading up their cars with hundreds of pounds of weed, half a million dollars worth.
Santa Cruz Police Deputy Chief Jon Bush said, “They use force to break into the business, ultimately stealing merchandise. Some products they loaded up into their vehicles and drove off in separate directions.”
A person who didn’t want to share their name said they saw it all happen and that the thieves were in and out in less than 15 minutes. The witness said, “They were masked up, clubbed up, and I had a really hard time even making the description of the people because of the weapons I saw.”
The second attack went down on Sunday morning around 3 a.m. in the Harvey West Park area in Santa Cruz, where other cannabis businesses reside.
Even with heavy security with bright lights and dozens of cameras, these types of attacks are happened more often, leaving many people in the cannabis industry on edge. The witness said, "It's not a game, as we can all tell now, that this is going to morph into something that none of us even expected."
“Unfortunately, this isn't something that's just occurring in Santa Cruz. It's across all the Bay Area and the region, especially with the recent increase in marijuana dispensaries being allowed to sell marijuana,” Bush said.
