"It was like a shopping spree," says Jacobsen. ![]() 3, and owner Jordan Jacobsen tells WW nearly $200,000 worth of product was stolen by five young men who smashed a window with a rock to enter. Portland Extracts, a dispensary and processing lab in the Division Clinton neighborhood, was broken into Aug. However, five other dispensaries tell WW their total monetary losses-including product stolen and damage done to the store-exceeded $20,000. ![]() The armed robbers stole $30,000 in cash and $5,000 worth of flower-the hardest-hit shop in terms of cash stolen that WW spoke with. "I wanted to go hunt the guy down by myself." We never want anyone to have to go through that. 9, three employees at Johnny Reece's shop in Southwest were zip-tied and held at gunpoint while one of the employees was dragged 20 feet to the back office where she was ordered to open the cash safe. Then, in late July, the break-ins started getting more severe. They kicked in fridges, smashed display cases, grabbed whatever was handy, then ran out. WW spoke with 10 other dispensaries that described young men using rocks to shatter glass windows and doors. "The alarm was going off the entire time." The same group attempted to hit Amberlight again just two weeks later. "It seems they're aware that police don't have quick response times," Farrell says. For nearly 25 minutes, they ran in and out of the shop taking loads of goods to a vehicle-about $16,000 worth of oils, extracts and glassware. When she got to her shop at 8:30 that morning, the alarms were still going off, and the police had just responded.Īccording to security camera footage Farrell watched that captured the burglary, four young men in hoods and masks smashed the glass door with rocks and broke into the safes and fridges holding product. Just past 3 am on July 26, the shop's alarm linked to Farrell's iPhone started to blare. Widespread looting stopped but the plundering of weed stores continued.Ĭamille Farrell manages Amberlight Cannabis House in the Richmond neighborhood. "You could drive down Belmont and Hawthorne, and it was just broken glass everywhere," says Rick Vranish, marketing director at Tetra Cannabis on Southeast Belmont Street, who saw widespread damage after his and several other shops were hit June 1. The first break-ins happened on the morning of May 30, in the hours after rioters set fire to the Multnomah County Justice Center. "It makes sense that recreational vices are picking up," Russo says. People are working less and many are getting generous unemployment benefits. Joe Russo, who co-owns a cannabis distribution company, says the sales increase makes sense. ![]() OLCC data shows cannabis sales have gone up more than 20% since March. Kate Brown shut down bars, restaurants and gyms in March, she allowed cannabis stores to remain open. 17, "one of which resulted in two juvenile suspects identified and detained."Ĭannabis has been one of the few industries spared economic turmoil since the onset of the pandemic. She added that police had responded to two dispensary break-ins Aug. "I am sure they are inundated with follow-up and other requests," Newhard said. Public information officer Melissa Newhard said detectives had not responded to a request for updates. In a possible sign of how stretched the police are, the bureau told WW it could not comment by press deadline.
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