Seattle pot shop burglarized by large group using stolen vehicle

Burglars target pot shop in Central District

Police are investigating after more than 10 burglars targeted a pot shop in Seattle's Central District, and stole thousands of dollars.

SEATTLE - Police are investigating after a large group of burglars rammed a stolen car into a Central District pot shop and stole thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise on Tuesday.

Just before 3:30 a.m., a group of more than 10 people – who appeared to be a mixture of young adults, kids, boys and girls – rammed a stolen Hyundai Sonata into the front doors of Forbidden Cannabis Club on E Union St.

The business shared security footage of the break-in, showing a large group of suspects outside the business, while the driver wedged the stolen car between the building's front doors and the bike stands near the sidewalk.

After multiple attempts to break the doors down, the suspects eventually gain entry – swarming the store, and stealing thousands of dollars' worth of products and cash.

Security footage shows the suspects fleeing the scene in two cars. FOX 13 is working with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to determine if these vehicles were also stolen.

The owner says this is particularly frustrating because a similar incident happened just days ago, on April 5. Though last week's break-in attempt was unsuccessful, the owner called the SPD and hired extra security.

The owner believes the suspects likely cased the business and knew exactly when to execute the burglary, because his staff was at the store until 2:00 a.m., and security was scheduled to start at 4:00 a.m.

FOX 13's Taylor Winkel spoke to the store manager.

"It's pretty disheartening," said Manager Austin Bren. "We put a lot of time, energy and effort into making this an operating business. Cannabis has never killed anybody. Cannabis has never hurt anybody. There are people that are lifelong patients of over-the-counter medications that use this, and it changes their lives."

"We just want the same opportunity as other businesses," Bren added. "Whether that be our ability to get proper insurance, the ability to protect our business."

The business owner says their insurance coverage for stolen merchandise and robberies is capped at $10,000. Anything over that amount is not reimbursable.

FOX 13 has reached out to the SPD for more details, and to determine if this burglary is related to the April 5 incident.