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Pot shop thieves making out with very little product

By Joanna Small
By Joanna Small

SEATTLE — Police are asking for help in finding three masked people who broke into a pot shop and shattered glass display cases Sunday but made off with very little.

It happened at Vela on 1st Avenue and is just another crime against an industry that requires security measures that make successful break-ins more difficult.

Vela owner Joe Brotherton said that the hodgepodge of stolen product is worth less than $300.

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“They actually took a suppository which is a new product we just started carrying and is kind of out there,” Brotherton said, laughing.

Across the state of Washington, there have been dozens of these break-ins since marijuana was legalized in 2014 but state-required security measures like cameras for every square foot of floor space mean many burglars leave empty-handed.

Last week, security cameras caught three men breaking through the glass door of an Aberdeen pot shop’s lobby then trying to shoot their way into the main store.

“I was almost expecting something to happen, a broken window,” said Cannabis 21 manager Adam Bakotich.

Unfortunately for the would-be robbers, the main store is protected by safety glass and the product went untouched.

Owners speculate the nature of the once cash-only industry leads burglars to believe they’ll find bank in the register-- but that’s changed.

“A lot of the banks now have done business with us so we don’t carry much cash in the stores, which has been helpful,” explained Brotherton.

So that meant no money for the Vela vandals — just a few edibles, some flower, and that suppository.

“It would take quite a heist to get much more than what they got," Brotherton said.

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