California, San Luis Obispo

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Thu, Nov. 30, 2006

Gunmen take pot in home robbery

By AnnMarie Cornejo
acornejo@thetribunenews.com
The San Luis Obispo Tribune

A home invasion robbery in San Luis Obispo on Sunday night was not a random attack, but it instead appears that the thieves targeted the victims because they knew there was marijuana in the home, police said Wednesday.

The three robbers, who have not been found, held the four men living at the rental house in the 1200 block of Fredericks Street at gunpoint before stealing about two pounds of marijuana, a large amount of cash, according to police.

"It was the scariest thing I have ever been through," one of the victims said Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Cuesta College student said he was in the living room checking his e-mail on a computer when the masked men broke into the house and told everyone to lie face down on the floor.

The thieves then forced one of the victims to open a locked safe that held the marijuana and the cash, police said. The victim said their cell phones and an Xbox were also taken.

The amount of cash stolen was unavailable Wednesday.

Police said that one of the four victims appears to be a legal provider of marijuana for the Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers in Morro Bay — a co-op that dispenses medical marijuana to patients with prescriptions.

Louis Koory, the co-op’s attorney, said that he does not believe the crime was in any way connected to the business, which has operated in Morro Bay since March.

The victims, all men in their early 20s, said they aren’t sure how the robbers knew what was in the house.

Police said they have a few active leads in finding the three thieves. They asked that anyone with additional information about the case contact the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

Police also released descriptions of the three robbers, all of whom are black men: one is 20 to 30 years old, 6 feet to 6 feet 4 inches tall with a thin build; another is 5 feet 10 inches tall with a stocky build and weighing more than 200 pounds; and the third is 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build.

<span class=postbold>Past crimes</span>

The most recent home invasion robbery is one of several to occur within the last year and a half in San Luis Obispo County, including:<ul><li> On July 16, a woman said she was at her Atascadero residence with three adults and a juvenile when three men entered the home and forced all the occupants to the bedroom at gunpoint. Money and property were taken from the residence and victims, police said.</li>

<li> On Jan. 23, Atascadero police found a man in the 10700 block of El Camino Real with minor to moderate injuries, an apparent victim of a nearly two-hour home invasion incident. Police arrested two suspects who allegedly bound, beat and stabbed the victim while ransacking his home and demanding money.</li>

<li> On June 23, 2005, Grover Beach police said three men broke into a home at Oak Park Boulevard and Mentone Avenue about 1 a.m. The victim said he was bound and beaten by two men, one of whom had a sawed-off shotgun and pistol whipped him. He also reported they stole his vehicle, which was found early the next day.</li>

<li> On June 1, 2005, Atascadero police said one man armed with a gun and two others with knives confronted seven residents at a home in the 9300 block of Carmel Road and took cash and personal property. One of the robbers fired a shot, police said.</li></ul>

[palmspringsbum]

SLO Home Invasion's Goal: Medical Marijuana

<span class=postbigbold>The three masked men were armed
with a rifle and a baseball bat</span>

By: Stacy Daniel
KSBY
Thursday, November 30, 2006

A recent home invasion robbery in San Luis Obispo has investigators believing the victims were specifically targeted. They say the robbers were after a stash of medical marijuana they knew was inside the home.

At around 10:00 p.m. Sunday night, three masked men forced their way into a home in the 1200 block of Fredericks Street.

One of the suspects was armed with a rifle, another with a baseball bat.

The suspects forced one of the victims to open a safe, containing marijuana and a large amount of money. After taking what was in the safe, the suspects then took personal items from the victims.

Those three suspects remain on the loose tonight. Police know very little about what they look like because the robbers were masks.

Police believe the house was targeted because of what was inside: two pounds of medical marijuana. They believe the robbers knew what they were looking for and exactly where to go to get it.

One of the victims who lives in the house is legally allowed to possess and cultivate medical marijuana and had the paperwork to prove it.

"We don't just take people's word for it," says Dan Blenke San Luis Obispo Police Department. "People have to be able to produce paperwork and then we could make follow-up phone calls or check with a police department in another jurisdiction and have them do some follow-up for us to make sure that the information that they're giving us is legitimate and that's what happened in this case."

In 1996, Proposition 215 was passed in California, making it one of 12 states where it's legal for certain people to possess and cultivate marijuana.

"The concept of medical marijuana is something that law enforcement is ... let's just say they're hostile to that idea fundamentally, because a big part of their job is marijuana prohibition," says attorney Louis Koory. "That's a big part of their job and that's a big part of their budget."

While medical marijuana is legal under state law, federal law doesn't see it that way. And that makes these cases frustrating for local police.

Since the victim was licensed to have marijuana, police do not plan to charge him with a crime.

If you have any information about this crime, call the San Luis Obispo Police Department.